


Comic Book Duo Shenanigans

by Username8746489



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Marc Anciel, Akumatized Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Inappropriate Humor, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, M/M, Marc Anciel & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug are Cousins, Oneshot collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 48
Words: 29,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24711613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Username8746489/pseuds/Username8746489
Summary: Since I write a ton of Nathmarc stories, I figured why not make a oneshot request ficLeave requests in the first chapter and I'll probably get around to writing them!Requests: Closed
Relationships: Alix Kubdel & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Comments: 621
Kudos: 394
Collections: MarcNath Fics!





	1. Request Page!

I'm probably going to regret this later but oh well

As the summary said, I've written a ton of Nathmarc stories and oneshots! 

I'll probably include my own ideas in here from time to time, but for the most part, this fic is for the people that have Nathmarc fic ideas but don't want to write them!

**Rules  
**

\----------

1.) If I do accept a request, it'll most likely become a oneshot (Unless I'm like REALLY inspired by the idea) and not anything longer

2.) Don't request any explicit NSFW stuff, I'm not comfy with writing that

3.) O.C.s aren't really my cup of tea so if your request has an OC mentioned in it, I probably won't do it sorry :<

4.) I reserve the right to deny a request if I don't feel comfortable with it (God that sounds so fancy hfdbkzs)

5.) Please just leave your requests in this chapter, it'll be easier to sort through

I think that's it but I may edit this page if I think of more rules. 

Requests: Closed 


	2. Swimming Around At The Speed of Sound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "*whispers* Mermaid AU shenanigans with Nath learning how to be a Knight and Marc just being a Problem" - Sinnamon_Troll

Marc was an anomaly to all the merfolk in their pod.

Each mermaid was born with a specific skill set reflected in their tail. Different colors meant different skills. Having two skills was rare, but not impossible. Healers were especially rare and each one was treated as a messiah, having classes to learn how to heal their kind.

So of course, it was a shock when Marc’s tail was revealed to be mostly white with green highlights on the side.

Not only was he a healer, but he had two skills! The second skill was what scared people the most, especially since it was the main color of his tail. 

White represented the assassin skill.

An assassin that also has the capability to heal people? Unheard of! People usually avoided him for that reason. Marc hated it. He also hated the fact healers had to have knights to “escort” him everywhere. He could take care of himself!

Fortunately, one day he ran into Nathaniel. Marc didn’t care what all the other healers said. He really wanted Nathaniel to be his knight. His teacher tried to talk him out of it (“Wouldn’t you want a fighter as your knight instead of...him?”), but Marc knew who he wanted. 

Currently, Marc was exploring outside the city with Nathaniel following him, as per his knight duties. He enjoyed doing the action a lot, since it meant less people were around to judge him.

“Marc, I don’t think we should go out too far,” Nathaniel warned, still following him despite his worries.

“It’ll be fine!” Marc reassured, swimming over to Nathaniel and dragging him over to a sunken ship, “Check it out!”

Nathaniel gasped, already taking an internal inventory of all the supplies littered around the wreckage.

The redhead was a conjurer. Given the right materials, the merfolk under the category could make anything.

Marc giggled at the beaming boy, “So, worth it?”

Nathaniel turned to him, pouting, “I’m still saying we should turn back and at least get a weapon. In case someone tries to kidnap and/or attack us.”

Since healers were so rare, other merfolk from other pods would usually come and take unsupervised healers without consent, forcing them to join their own pod. Since Nathaniel wasn’t part of the fighter class, they assumed having him as a knight was the same as leaving Marc alone. 

Marc huffed, swimming over to an opening in the ship, "You worry too much."

At that very moment, a shark emerged from the darkness, snapping its jaw at Marc's tail, attempting to catch it. Marc quickly swiveled out of the way. 

"Marc!" Nathaniel yelled in surprise. The shark didn't let up, attempting to catch the brunette in its mouth. 

Marc beamed, "Hell yeah, let's fight!" He dodged each bite, slapping the shark with his tail each chance he would get. Naturally, this did not calm the shark down at all.

Nathaniel quickly looked around to see if he could help. His eyes landed on a piece of broken metal and a nearby group of seaweed. 

Nathaniel quickly swam over to them, shoving the metal and seaweed together in his hand. With a purple glow, the two items merged into a makeshift knife. 

Marc ducked out of the way from another attempted bite. The makeshift knife Nathaniel made shot through the water swiftly, lodging itself in the shark's snout. As it roared in pain, Nathaniel grabbed Marc by the hand and dragged him out of there.

"'It'll be fine!' You said!" Nathaniel rambled, "You're a liar is what you are!"

Marc didn't listen, staring love struck at the other boy, "This is why I love you."

"The sentiment would be returned if you could stop trying to fight every thing!" Nathaniel huffed, slowing down and releasing their hands. He turned around, cupping Marc's face in his hands, "Sorry. I just...worry." 

Marc smiled, placing a hand over Nathaniel's, "I'll try to be more careful." The aforementioned boy let out a sigh of relief. 

"Good. Come on. Let's get back to the city."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the world building in this AU was by Sin (who ironically requested this oneshot) 
> 
> More on this AU can be found in the discord server: https://discord.gg/pWXthc2


	3. An Akuma Green with Envy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Temporary hero shenanigans? Like one gets miraculous from Ladybug in an attempt to protect the other" - WhumpFan

Nathaniel leaned his head on Marc's shoulder, "I like that idea." He pointed to a jotted note on Marc's paper. The brunette circled it.

A couple months ago, Marc only dreamt of this moment. And now it was happening! He was dating Nathaniel Kurtzberg and they were working on a comic together!

Marc turned the page to start drafting the next issue, only to realize his journal was out of pages. The art teacher took notice of this, "Oh, Marc, I have some empty journals over here! Feel free to take one!" The boy walked over, kneeling down to grab a journal.

As he was down there, he heard someone enter the art room. Strange. All the members were already there. Who could that be?

"Oh, are you Nathaniel Kurtzberg?" A sweet female voice asked. 

Nathaniel gave a hum of affirmation.

The sweet voice turned venomous, "You must think you're so cool, don't you? Finding success when you're only sixteen. It's not fair. NOT FAIR!" With that shout came shouts of surprise from the rest of the club. The art teacher motioned for Marc to stay down.

"Oh, and you two! You're part of Kitty Section, aren't you? Oh, how lucky! Oh, oh, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng! A designer, praised by other renowned designers, at only 15 years old! How fun! You three must think you're the best of the best, huh?!" Surprised gasps erupted from the three mentioned. At this point, Marc gave into his curiosity and worry and peeked over the desk. 

The girl who originally came into the room had multiple long sheets of paper extending from her back. Wrapped in the paper were the four teenagers called out by the girl, now identified as an akuma. Nathaniel met Marc's gaze, mouthing a command.

"Stay down."

She turned to Alix, "Oh, you don't have to worry. You're not particularly famous, so I think I'll be taking my leave now!" Alix made a small offended noise.

With those words, she walked out of the room, her prisoners trailing behind her, held up by the paper rolls.

Marc stood up after he was sure she left, turning to Alix, "What was that?!"

"Akuma." 

"Uh, gee thanks, Mrs. Obvious!"

Marc bit his lip. He wanted to help. He really did. But what could he do?

His eyes landed on the pair of scissors Marinette was using before her capture. 

"Hey, Alix, those things were made out of paper, right?"

\---

Chat Noir dodged another sonic blast from the akuma. From what he could decipher, she gained a special ability related to the success from each person she had. The sonic booms he was currently dodging were pressumably from Rose and Juleka.

Alya stood on the stairs, recording the fight. She didn't notice when a paper also wrapped around her waist. Alya yelped as the paper pulled her up alongside the other prisoners.

He aimed his baton at her, preparing to throw it at the papers (From Nathaniel?) holding the teenagers up. 

"Say cheese!" The akuma cheered, showing her palm. A bright light appeared, blinding Chat enough that he missed his throw. It was like a phone flash. Dang, so that was Alya's ability. 

"You'll never reach my hostages as long as I have this guy!" The akuma raised Nathaniel up in the air, "He's perfect for restraints." Nathaniel looked dead inside.

"Now give me your miraculous!" She reached out a hand, threads shooting out of her fingers towards his own hand. He could tell the ability was from Marinette. 

But before they could reach him, they dissipated out of the air. 

\---

Marc stood behind the akuma, scissors in hand. He took a running start, launching himself off the railing and onto the papers holding up the teenagers. Unfortunately, he also jumped at the same time Nathaniel was lifted up, rendering his paper out of range for Marc to grab. 

Marc tensed, holding onto the paper he had managed to grab, preparing for the akuma to start thrashing. Nothing happened. It seemed her senses weren't connected to the paper. That worked out in his favor. 

With a quick snip from the scissors, the paper restraints fell away from the akuma, dropping everyone to the ground. The akuma turned around, "Get back here!"

Everyone scattered in different directions at the yell and they moved quickly enough to avoid the second wave of paper. 

Marc bit his lip, staring up at Nathaniel. He slowly walked under the staircase, prepared to go up them for a second attempt to free Nathaniel. 

The akuma noticed him, and pointed to both Marc and Chat, "Ohohoho! I don't suggest you try and free this one!" 

"Why not?" Chat yelled back.

The akuma giggled, "Well, as you already know, I can control these paper restraints as I please. Up and down, left and right, I can even control the speed!" As she said those instructions, the paper holding Nathaniel followed her directions. "And I can also control how tightly they're wound."

Nathaniel's eyes sparked with confusion at the last statement. He very quickly found out the meaning as the restraints around his arms and chest shrunk. An anguished cry escaped his mouth, unprepared for the pain. She kept tightening the restraints for ten more seconds before releasing him.

"So, unless you want me to snap his spine, I suggest you give me your miraculous."

Nathaniel's despaired expression met Marc's own mirrored one. He quickly retreated to the locker room once he noticed the paper trail crawling up to him.

Marc slammed the door behind him, sliding down the closed door with a muttered curse.

What could he do now?

\---

Ladybug dropped in as the threat was being said. She turned to Chat, "Sorry for being late. Personal business." He nodded in understanding.

"I think it's time for a little luck." She threw her yo-yo in the air, "Lucky charm!"

The thing that landed in her hand was a ladybug patterned butterfly knife. 

The heroine turned to her partner, "Sorry for leaving again so soon. I'm getting extra help!" Chat nodded again.

She hopped away, going to her own room. After detransforming, she grabbed the goat miraculous.

"Ziggy, it's your time to shine!"

\---

Marc jolted as Ladybug landed in the locker room.

"L-Ladybug?!" He rushed up to her, "Is Nathaniel alright?"

She winced, "Not yet, unfortunately. If you would like to help, that'd be greatly appreciated."

"Help?"

She held out a black box, "Marc Anciel, I am granting you temporary use of the goat miraculous."

\---

Nathaniel's vision swam after the attempted ending of his life. He wasn't really sure what was going on anymore.

"Well, Chat Noir?" The akuma held her hand out, "The miraculous."

He growled in reply. 

She sighed, "Oh well then. Say goodbye to the illustrator of the Ladybug comics!"

Before she could tighten the restraints again, a boy dressed in white appeared, using a shepard's crook to hook himself on the extended paper, swinging upwards to kick the akuma in the face. The shock of the blow made her release Nathaniel from his binds. 

The redhead was quickly caught by the hero, dropping and rolling across the ground. They came to a stop below the stairs.

"W-Who?-"

"Stardust. You okay? A cutie like you shouldn't be harmed!" Stardust followed up the statement with a wink.

Nathaniel blinked, "Um, I apologize but I have a boyfriend..."

"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry!" He stood Nathaniel up.

Alix slammed open a classroom door, gesturing for Nathaniel to come over. Stardust slowly pushed Nathaniel towards his best friend, "Let's go. I don't want you to be in danger!"

Nathaniel turned back mid-run, "Thank you." Then he disappeared inside the classroom.

"Stardust!" 

"Coming!" He called, returning to the battle.

~~Skipping battle because I can't write fight scenes~~

Nathaniel waved his hands around, talking animatedly about the new hero. "He was so cool!" Marc clung to him from behind, still concerned over his boyfriend. 

Marinette smirked, "You sound like you want to smash him." Marc's face flushed. Luckily, no one noticed.

Nathaniel stuck his tongue out, "Bleh. I'm staying loyal to Marc, thank you very much." He leaned back, kissing the brunette's cheek. Marc simply buried his face in the boy's shoulder.

"Love you," Nathaniel whispered into his ear.

Marc smiled, "Love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahaha I didn't want to guess the goat miraculous power so have a skipped fight scene. Sorry!


	4. The Lying Choosing Beggar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Art boyfriends expose Lila because she hurts one of them?" - WhumpFan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time I have to come up with a title, I keep imagining it like it's being announced as a Pokémon Anime episode title card fidjnrjr

Nathaniel was not having a fun day, and it was all thanks to one specific girl. Lila would not shut up about having Nathaniel draw her a portrait for her profile pictures on social media.

As she rambled on about her request, he tried blocking her out to focus on the assignment in front of him. Lila didn't let up, simply tapping him when she noticed he wasn't paying attention.

Nathaniel zoned back in one last time as she finished her rant, "And if you could do it by this evening, that'd be great!"

...Does she know how long art takes?

Lila huffed, "Of course I do!" Fuck, he must've said that out loud. "I've met several manga and comic illustrators after all! But you should be able to do it quickly because you can do it digitally."

Nathaniel sighed, "Make an order through my commissions on any of my social media."

She blinked, confused, "What?"

"You have to pay if you want something like that," He explained, even though he really shouldn't have had to, "Also it's basically impossible for me to complete your request by this evening since I have homework."

She sniffled, "Nathaniel, you're so selfish! Why can't you make it free for a friend?"

"You assume we're friends," He muttered back.

Lila gasped, "Of course we are!"

"We've never actually had a conversation-"

"I talk to you every morning!"

"You didn't let me finish. A conversation that wasn't related to an amazing thing you've done at all."

Lila pouted, "Is it really a crime to want to share my stories?"

He rolled his eyes, "You still need to pay."

"But, I-I!"

Nathaniel returned to his work, "Maybe Marinette has a point. Why would someone as nice as you claim to be not understand the concept of paying an artist for their work?"

Lila's face quickly morphed into a serious expression, "I see. You've chosen sides."

Sides?

She sneered at him, "If you want to join Marinette in her useless quest to expose me, fine. Join her. But know I'll do the exact same thing I did to her to you. Say goodbye to your friends _loner_ boy."

Nathaniel barely got time to process the threat as the lunch bell rang. Lila took on an angel-like persona, walking over to Alya and starting to talk about Ladybug again. He went through the motions, gathering his stuff and walking outside the classroom. 

It was at that moment the threat sank in, and he broke into a sprint. Nathaniel shoved open the door to a storage closet, slamming it shut behind him and curling into a ball.

She couldn't take his friends. He doesn't want to go back to when he had nobody to talk to. He couldn't live like that again. Not again, _not again, **not again**_ -

"Nathaniel?" Nathaniel lifted his head just a tad to look at the intruder. Marinette approached cautiously, "I… Do you want me to get Marc?"

He nodded slowly. She hummed, leaving the room. After a minute or so, Nathaniel wasn't really paying attention to the time, Marc entered the room. He quickly dropped to the floor, gathering Nathaniel in his arms.

"Hey, hey, talk to me babe, what's wrong?" Marc whispered, pulling his lover into a hug.

Nathaniel's body shook with tears ( ~~When did he start crying?~~ ) as he explained what happened, "A-And then she said she'd take away all my friends."

Marc raised a hand, combing through Nathaniel's hair, a method they found in the past that helped to calm him down, "It'll be okay. She won't. Your friends wouldn't do something like that."

Nathaniel shook more, grasping onto Marc's hoodie, "M-Marc, what if she takes you?!" He looked up, eyes glossy, "I don't want to live in a world without you!"

Then and there, Marc internally declared war on the Italian liar.

\---

Marinette sat shocked as Marc walked around in circles in her room, detailing how much he hated Lila.

"And that's why we should expose her," He ended his rant, turning to his cousin, hands on his hips.

Marinette smiled, "Of course we shall."

\---

Lila felt uneasy this week. She didn't know why. It's not like anything interesting happened after she threatened Nathaniel. 

The most noteworthy thing that had occurred was Marinette and a black haired boy passing out flyers to come to a special presentation they were showing afterschool on Friday. It seemed Lila still had work to do as the rest of the school still adored Marinette and agreed to show up since it was their "everyday Ladybug" (bleh) asking.

But Marinette had asked her to come along in front of the entire class, so she couldn't deny the invitation without looking rude.

What was she planning?

Turns out, a very well planned presentation.

At the event, the entire student body could see Lila paling as her interview with Alya was picked apart with no remorse. There were even some interviews with the celebrities she lied about in there denying her stories, courtesy of Marinette's godlike connections.

As Mrs. Bustier's class teared into Lila, Nathaniel turned to Marc near the edge of the room, smiling.

"You know, you're so dramatic."

Marc gasped in the most dramatic way possible, "Whatever makes you say that?"

Nathaniel giggled, leaning into Marc's chest. His voice lowered to a whisper, "Thank you."

Marc pressed a kiss to his forehead, "Anything for you, my muse."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Lila takedown portion of the chapter is relatively short because we've probably all seen the takedown countless times in other fics 
> 
> How many days do you want to bet it takes for the Lila roleplayer to show up?


	5. Netflix and Cuddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I want to see some Nathmarc cuddles. Just want some Nathmarc cuddles.
> 
> (Maybe throw in small angsts in it too because I love myself angsts)" - DarknessWolf

Marc bit his lip, tightening his hold on Nathaniel's hand. They were watching a movie at the latter's apartment. Unforunately, the movie didn't keep Marc's thoughts from spiraling. 

He's going to tell you to leave. Nathaniel doesn't love you. He's only dating you out of pity. Leave before you make things worse-

Nathaniel poked Marc, "Hey, you okay? You haven't been paying attention for the past five minutes."

Marc was tempted to just ignore his question and return to the movie, but all the websites he had read said communication is key.

And so he communicated.

"M-My thoughts keep getting louder and louder, and they all say I'm not good enough for you."

Nathaniel frowned.

This is it. This is where he breaks up with you. He wouldn't want to be with someone who he constantly has to take care of.

The boy reached up to wipe an unnoticed tear from Marc's cheek.

"I'm..not good with words, but please know," Nathaniel smiled up at Marc, "Even with whatever your thoughts are saying about me, I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world to be dating you. I _love_ you, and please don't let anyone, even yourself, tell you otherwise."

Marc's thoughts grew quieter at those words.

Nathaniel scooted over Marc's arm, wrapping his arms around his body. Marc laid down on the couch, returning the hug.

"I love you," Marc whispered back. 

Nathaniel smiled, "You should love yourself too."

Marc blushed and looked away. "I...I'll try."

"That's all I ask for."

The two fell asleep, wrapped in each other's embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very short oneshot, sorry bout that :<<


	6. Searching for a Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Marc secretly trying to come up with their ship name?" - agaydisneyprincess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd call this short and sweet, but it's just really short since I didn't know how to stretch out the prompt I'm so sorry-

Marc needed a break. So of course, he started scrolling through Tumblr. It still shocked him how many people enjoyed their comic. There were tons of fanworks. Whilst scrolling through, he noticed the ship tag for Reverser and Mightyllustrator had no clear name.

It made him wonder what ship name would be used for him and Nathaniel.

He flipped to the back of his journal and started doodling down names. And yes, this did still count as his break.

_Nathmarc._

_Marcnath._

_Eh, none of those really rolls off the tongue._

_Marcaniel._

_Feels weird to say._

Lost in his pondering thoughts, he didn't notice Nathaniel approaching.

"What're you writing?"

Marc didn't react fast enough to close the journal before Nathaniel could see.

"Were...those ship names for us?"

Marc blushed, "..Yes. Now, if we could forget about that, that would be great."

Nathaniel paused, "Did you come up with one?"

Marc huffed, before answering a couple seconds later, "No, nothing sounds right." His boyfriend hummed.

"I may have one."

Nathaniel touched Marc’s shirt, “Rainbow.” He pointed at his head, “Tomato.”

Marc raised an eyebrow, “Since you pointed to your head and my body, are you implying you’re the top? Because you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Marc!” Nathaniel would deny the voice crack at the end of his shout if you asked him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha plot Twist I'm doing the requests out of order now


	7. Fashion Icons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "....Marinette and Marc often play dress-ups in her room using her latest designs, its something they find inspiring and fun (the music is good and loud, and if they were a little older there would be a bottle of wine involved). One day, they pull Nathaniel into their playtime, and they all really get into it, like artistic make-up and Nath actually exposing his face etc. Later on someone finds the photos and shares them on the internet (either Alya being "helpful" or Lila using it as ammunition against the non-believers) and they all become bigger than the Agrestes in the fashion world..." -cat
> 
> "And Gabriel is like 'yes they're teenagers goofing around, but their designs and makeup are good for someone of their age - wait, is that the girl my son is friends with who won my hat contest? Hmm, I'll be keeping an eye on her for good work in the future...'" - CinnakinCat

Nathaniel fiddled with his fingers as he sat on Marinette's floor, "Um, what are we doing here?" 

Marc explained from his spot on her couch, "I help Marinette model some clothes she makes so she can see what it's like on a human body."

Marinette smiled at him from her desk chair, "I hope you don't mind helping."

"Oh, not at all!"

She beamed, "Oh, great!" Marinette turned to her computer, putting on some music. 

The next couple hours were spent putting on outfits and messing around. Marinette made sure to take plenty of pictures and videos.

As Nathaniel packed up his stuff, he asked Marinette one question, "Um, what you recorded.."

Marinette waved her hand, "Oh it's fine, I would never share those things with anyone!"

At least, that's what she thought at the time.

\---

Alya was chilling in Marinette's room, helping her with her website. "What do you want me to upload?"

"Folder on my phone labeled fashion, first 10 items."

"Alright, got it!"

It was only later in bed that Marinette realized she never took pictures of the outfits she wanted to post. What did she upload to her website?

\---

Marinette barreled into the two at the entrance of the school, "I'm so sorry!" 

Marc looked confused, "For what?"

"Alya was helping me with my website yesterday and I only realized last night that I uploaded the stuff from our fashion day!" She explained in an anxious mess.

"Oh god, they're all gonna make fun of us," Nathaniel shouted in worry.

"I mean, I do have a knife. So-"

"Marc!" Both his boyfriend and cousin shouted.

Alix walked up to the group. "Hey, Nath, how come you never told me you could rock a skirt?"

He grimaced, "I didn't know you checked Marinette's website."

"Website? Dude, she's trending all over the internet!"

"I'm what?!" The girl shrieked.

"Yeah, check it out!" Alix showed the group exactly what was on the website.

_Marinette and Marc giggled from behind the camera. Nathaniel spun around, staring at himself in the mirror._

_"Nice skirt!" Marinette called out. Nathaniel stuck his tongue out at her._

_"On one hand, society dictates that I can't wear a skirt because of gender norms, and I'll probably be shamed if I wear this out in public." Nathaniel smoothed out the skirt he was in, "On the other hand, this skirt is really cute and comfortable."_

_"Marinette, I swear I will pay you my entire allowance if you make more skirts for Nathaniel!" Marc shouted. The video ended with Marc being hit in the face by a stuffed animal, presumably thrown by Nathaniel._

Nathaniel stifled a laugh at the ending of the clip.

"She's right, you _do_ rock a skirt!" Marc praised, beaming at his boyfriend. Nathaniel blushed, shoving him away and walking inside. Almost immediately, people started pointing and staring, but they didn’t seem to be making fun of him. That was a plus.

The other three walked in besides him. More pointing occurred when the two cousins came in.

Marinette dragged Alix’s phone to her face, “What else did I post?!”

Alix swiped to a picture of the three taking a selfie together. It was after Nathaniel had done their make-up and their faces were all pressed together, picture taken midlaugh. Nathaniel’s bangs were pinned to the side with three bobby pins, one pink, one purple, one blue. More swiping revealed pictures of Nathaniel and Marc in the male outfits she had wanted modeled (Plus one of Marc in a skirt because he also helped modeled female clothes). 

"Who did your makeup in this picture?" Rose asked, using her phone to show the aforementioned photo of the selfie.

"Ah, that would be me," Nathaniel smiled sheepishly.

"Wow, you're so good at it! How?" 

"Well, make-up is essentially art on someone's face so..." 

“Marinette! Can I have an autograph?”

“No, me first!”

Marinette was suddenly overwhelmed with people swarming her for an autograph.

If one looked to the side of the room, they would’ve seen a certain Italian being pissy that she wasn’t the center of attention.

Adrien glided through the crowd, linking his arm through Marinette’s, and guiding her back to the classroom.

“So, uh, Marinette, do you think you could make me a skirt too?” Adrien asked, basically lighting up the room with his smile. 

“Aha, of course!” Marinette stumbled over her words, “Would you like to come over to my room this weekend so I can measure you and brainstorm ideas?”

“Of course!”

  
  
Alya shot the girl a thumbs up from her desk.

\---

Gabriel stood staring at his computer of the designs going viral around the internet. The designs and makeup were well done, especially for someone of their age. The boys in skirts were also a positive step towards getting rid of toxic masculinity. Great marketing ploy. 

“Marinette Dupain Cheng,” He muttered, recognizing the name from his hat competition. As he was checking her Instagram account, a new post showed up. It was a selfie of her and Adrien with the caption, “@adrienagrestebrand requested a skirt so guess what my weekend project is!”

He’d have to look into giving her an internship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really Nathmarc whoops


	8. Hair Dye Squad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Can we get just a crack fluff thing where Nath dyes his hair so it actually looks looks like a tomato, like with a little green stem and everything.
> 
> It would be adorable
> 
> Also make Marc a blueberry cause that would be cute" - MiraculousPyro

Now, it was very easy to tell, but Alix and Marinette dyed their hair. Obviously. Who would believe blue and pink were natural hair colors?

Because of this shared trait, they get their hair dyed together whenever their roots start to show. Currently, they were discussing their next trip in the art room.

"So we're meeting up outside the place at ten in the morning, Saturday, right?" Marinette questioned one last time, starting to pack up her things as it was the end of the day. Alix made a small noise of confirmation.

Marc turned to them, "Where are you two going?"

"Hair dye salon," Alix gestured towards her hair. She made direct eye contact with Nathaniel, "Dude, dye part of your hair green so you can become the full tomato you were always destined to be." Her quiet laughter and friendly grinning afterwards signaled it was a joke and she didn't actually expect him to accept the offer.

Nathaniel tilted his head back, downing the rest of his coffee before tossing the disposable cup into the trash can, "Sure, why not?" 

"Woah, you don't need to-"

"I literally haven't slept in three days. I've ran out of fucks to give," Nathaniel shrugged. Marc looked vaguely concerned at the statement before turning to the girls. 

"Can I come too?"

Marinette lit up, "Dye your hair blue! We can match!" 

The cousins giggled together at the thought of matching hair colors.

"We'll go from hair dye buddies to hair dye squad," Alix snickered.

"So be it!" Marinette stated, "Saturday, ten am! I'll send you the address." She addressed the last part specifically to Marc.

With no last minute objections from the boys, the plans were made.

_Guess we're actually doing this._

\---

Nathaniel groaned, walking out of the salon, "Remind me to invent time travel so I can go back in time and strangle past sleep deprived me."

Alix snickered, taking multiple pictures of his new hair, "Nah, man. You look _great_ like this." She raised her hand to flick at the small tuft of hair recently dyed green at the top of his head. Nathaniel swatted her hand away.

From next to him, Marc giggled, hair dyed the same color as Marinette. "He truly is a tomato now." 

Nathaniel turned to his boyfriend, sticking his tongue out, "If I'm a tomato, you're a blueberry now."

Marc returned the gesture, "Better than being a tomato." Nathaniel playfully shoved the taller male.

The two quickly got into a mini battle, shoving and dodging each other. Both of them laughed their way down the street.

Marinette smiled, trailing a couple feet behind them with Alix. Yep, it was definitely the right decision to bring them along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mari and Alix are hair dye buddies discuss-


	9. A Picture Gone Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I have the bestist idea, not really it kinda sucks BUT consider this, Marc and Mari always walk eachother to and from school, once nath and marc start dating he joins in aswell because Mari and Marcs home are near Nath's moms restaurant, and Lila finds out about this via stalking or other evil shenanigans and instantly jumps the conclusion that Mari is dating both the weird artist that she is forced to sit near and that strange other kid (cuz she dosent know marc) and tells the whole class to 'expose' her 5 seconds later Alix is screaming about owing Nath 20 euros and the rest of the art squad is loosing it. Cue Nath and Mari walking in." - meep

Marinette and Marc were cousins. That was a fact. As such, when Marc joined the school a year ago, she walked him there and back his first day. It eventually became a routine for the both of them. (At least, until she became Ladybug and couldn't rely on routines because Hawkmoth would find a way to wreck them.)

For the first time in forever though, Marinette and Marc finally started walking together again. Fortunately, Hawkmoth decided not to send akumas during those walks so she never had to run off. How convenient.

Nathaniel revealed his workplace (Apparently, he worked at his mom's restaurant. Marinette had never knew of his job until this year. Whether that was because of his shyness or her just never interacting with him before this year, she had no idea. She secretly hoped it was the first one. The latter just made her feel like a bad person.) was on the way towards Marc's house, so he joined them on their daily walks. 

It was a nice routine. Marinette enjoyed them immensely. Something normal to go along with the drama in her life including being Ladybug and Lila.

 _Lila_.

What a bitch. (Of course, you'd only hear this in her brain.)

Marc had successfully helped her convince Nathaniel over to the light side. With the two boys on her side, the art club had also gotten the wool off their eyes.

Adrien was already firmly on her side, but after Marc heard of what his initial advice was, he gave a firm lecture to the model. Well, Marinette only says firm lecture. It was more like hellish yelling. The point was made though.

Whatever. It's not like Lila could ruin this comfy routine for her.

\---

Lila walked across the river from the trio. She smirked, taking a picture of Marinette with her two boyfriends. The black haired boy had his arm thrown around the brat's shoulders and Nathaniel was smiling fondly at the taller girl. They had to be dating! 

What a whore, honestly. Two boyfriends? Greedy bitch. Her reputation was for sure going to be ruined after Lila gave this picture to the group of sheep she called her classmates! 

What a perfect opportunity.

\---

 **ZoomingAround** : Hey, Nath, bet 20 euros that Lila says something so dumb she reveals herself tomorrow

 **Bicon** : Oddly specific, but I'll take that bet

\---

Lila quickly took on a worried expression while walking into class. Alya noticed immediately. "Yo girl, what's up?"

Lila pulled out her phone with trembling hands, "I saw something terrible yesterday!"

Alya raised a eyebrow, "What happened?"

"Well, it has to do with Marinette!"

Adrien choked on the coffee he was drinking. 

Lila pulled out her phone, "She's dating two men at once! Disgusting! And one of them is from our class! Weird ass art kid."

Alix walked over from the desk to look at the picture, before bursting out in laughter and shouting about how Nathaniel owed her twenty euros. Rose and Juleka also looked at the photo before giggling.

Lila looked vaguely pissed. "Why are you laughing?! She's dating two men at once in front of each other! It's nauseating!"

Kim took a deep breath. "Um, you realize Mari is polyamorous, right?" The girl had confessed the fact to Kim after he had been questioning his own sexuality and she was helping him through the confusing experience.

Lila scrunched up her face, "What is that, a mental illness? Sounds gross."

Alix wheezed more, tears from laughing too much appearing at the edge of her eyes.

Kim took in a deep breath, being poly himself. He slammed his hands on his desk, "Okay, you know what-"

Before he could begin his screaming match, Nathaniel and Marinette entered the room.

"What's going on?" Marinette asked, seeing Max holding Kim back from vaulting over his desk and beating up Lila.

"They said you're dating Marc and Nathaniel," Alix said between tears.

Nathaniel quickly covered up his laugh, "Yeah, no, I've gotten over my crush."

"But you're staring at her so lovingly in this picture!" Lila shrieked, waving her phone.

"What picture?" Nathaniel asked.

"Did you take a picture of them without permission?" Adrien asked, blinking his eyes innocently. He knew exactly what he was doing, the sneak.

"Well, I-"

"And how do you even know Mari and the other boy are dating?" Alya asked, vaguely recognizing him from class trips Marinette invited him to.

"I asked him afterwards!" Lila huffed.

Alix, who had only just recovered from her laughing fit, broke down laughing again.

Marinette snorted, "Well, he's gay as hell, so he wouldn't swing for me even if we weren't cousins."

Nathaniel smiled at the Italian, "Oh, did you not know they were cousins, Lila? Surely, you must've known if you asked him. Wait, wait." He rested his chin on his hand, "You did say you asked him, right? Why would he say they were dating then? Unless, of course, you were lying about asking him." A smirk punctuated the last statement.

Lila paled, "Um, well-"

"Wow, Lila, if you're lying about that, what else have you been lying about?" Adrien turned to Alya, "Alya, why don't you search up her name? Surely a news station must've covered something about her!"

Alya shrugged, doing the command.

"Now, Alya, there's no need-"

"I just see a bunch of students on social media calling you a liar." Alya looked up, glaring at Lila, "And no confirmation of your stories."

"So you were lying about knowing Ladybug?"

"And Jagged Stone?"

"And everyone else?"

As the angry classmates who just realized Lila was lying closed in, Nathaniel turned to his best friend.

"How did you even know this specific scenario was going to happen?" He asked Alix near the back of the crowd.

"A little bunny told me."

"Isn't the phrase birdy?"

"That's what I said."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only realized after I finished I read the bet thing from the prompt wrong so whoops


	10. Dehydrated Tomato

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "nathaniel having fantasies about being kidnapped by reverser......." - kiwibon

Nathaniel frowned, checking his phone. Still no new messages. Perhaps he should stop checking obsessively every five minutes.

Marc was supposed to come over two hours ago, but he hadn't shown up. He wondered what was keeping him. It was already dark out.

His thoughts were interrupted by a quiet knock on his balcony window.

Wait, a knock on his window? He lived on the fifteenth floor of the apartment building. How did someone get up there?

Turning to the window yielded no clues, since there was no one there. Ignoring all the basics of any horror movie ever, Nathaniel stepped outside on the balcony, attempting to find the source of the noise.

"Hey," Marc's voice said from behind him. Nathaniel jumped, turning around.

"Marc!" His words died in his mouth as he was met with not Marc, but Reverser. The akuma stepped down from his hoverboard.

"Nath! Sorry, I'm late." Nathaniel stepped back, his back hitting the railing. Reverser quickly wrapped his arms around the boy's waist, pulling him towards his chest. Nathaniel, flustered, squeaked, face pressed against the akuma. "Careful, don't want you to fall!"

Nathaniel quickly regained his composure, shoving Reverser away, pointing an accusing finger at him, "You- I- Why?" 

Reverser pouted, ignoring the confused boy, "We're dating. Why did you push me away?"

"Please tell me you didn't become a nice guy when you got akumatized," Nathaniel muttered without thinking. Reverser giggled, walking over, placing a kiss on Nathaniel's forehead.

"Of course not. But, I do have to do something."

"Something?"

Nathaniel's question was answered by Reverser tossing him over his shoulder. The action caused him to yell quite a few curse words in Yiddish as Reverser got back onto his hoverboard and flew away from the building.

Nathaniel's struggles during the flight were thoroughly ignored by the akuma, who whistled happily as he flew through the city. He attempted to slam his fists on Reverser's back (Damn akuma strength negated every attempt) before realizing it probably wouldn't be good if he was dropped from several hundred feet in the air. 

With a very large sense of annoyance, he did nothing for the rest of the trip to where ever Reverser was taking him. 

Eventually, they landed in an abandoned warehouse. Nathaniel was gently placed on the ground, "Why are we here?"

"Oh, we're gonna live here!" Reverser cheered.

What.

_**What.** _

"The outside world is so harsh and cruel. We'll be safe here, together!"

"And if I don't want to live here?" Nathaniel asked, acutely aware his boyfriend was currently an akuma.

Reverser pinned him to the nearest wall, tilting his head up, "And what are you going to do about it?"

The akuma lowered his head, latching onto Nathaniel's neck and-

\---

Nathaniel jolted awake in his bed back at home, face burning.

He groaned, covering his face with his arms. Marc looked over from where he was typing draft ideas on his phone.

"What happened?"

Nathaniel avoided the question, "Why are you awake?"

"Insomnia. Now answer the question."

The only response Marc got was the boy dropping his head face first into the pillow and screaming into it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This boy is THIRSTY
> 
> But like Marc radiated real top energy while akumatized so do we really blame Nath?


	11. Pranking the Liar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I have a request for a prank fic if possible!
> 
> Nathaniel, Alix and Marinette are chilling in the art room doing their thing. Alix asks who's their favorite artists of any kind, Nath decides to mess around with Lila's bragging habits by saying: “Marc Anciel is my favorite comic book writer!” Cue Lila immediately jumping in saying: "Oh we're such good friends and blah blah blah! I can hook you up for a meeting and blah blah blah!" Then Marc walks into the room and goes “I’ve never met you in my life. Who are you?!”" -phantombullets240

Marinette was really happy the art club was on her side now. Praise Marc, a blessing on Earth.

Nathaniel, Alix, and her were discussing normal conversation topics.

Lila strolled into the room, acting like her presence deserved all the attention. The three other kids ignored her. She huffed, dropping into the seat next to Nathaniel.

"Anyways, Nath, you said you were gonna draw me?"

"Fifteen euros, minimum for just a sketch," Nathaniel responded, only paying her a small amount of attention. Lila gawked at the quick response (and at the fact she had to pay.)

Alix continued the conversation in the midst of Lila's silence, "Anyways, whose your guy's favorite artists of any medium?"

Nathaniel snuck a quick glance at Lila. Why not troll her?

"My favorite comic book writer is Marc Anciel!"

Lila perked up, "Marc Anciel, you say? Oh I've actually met him before! We text all the time!"

Marinette smirked, "Oh, really? Where'd you meet him? In America, I presume?"

Lila nodded, "He saved me from some thugs on the street by asking them to stop! He's so polite! Oh, Nathaniel I could totally hook you up with a meeting!" As she rambled on, Marc stood in the doorway, very confused. The knowing smirks on all his friends' faces didn't reassure him. Nathaniel looked like he was about to burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, are you talking about Marc Anciel?" Marc cautiously asked, walking forwards. Lila hummed, seeing a new person to charm.

"Yep! We're really close friends!"

The boy made a confused noise, "But I've never met you before?" At that point, Nathaniel lost control and fell out of his seat, laughing. Alix slammed her head on the table, wheezing. Marinette was much more dignified, giggling into her fist.

Lila looked nervous, but composed herself, "Well, I don't see how that changes how I'm friends with Marc Anciel."

Marc's face fell, sudden realizing this was the liar girl Marinette always complained about, "I'm Marc Anciel."

Lila huffed, "That can't be possible! You're just a teenager!"

Nathaniel pulled himself off the floor, finally recovering from his laughter, "I'm also a teenager and illustrate one of the more popular comics in Paris right now, your point?"

Lila looked around the room, finding no friendly faces to save her. She left the room, fuming.

Marc turned to Nathaniel, "How did I even come up in conversation?" 

"It's a long story."

"It was five minutes," Marinette cut in.

"Ssssh, it sounds cooler."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marc, entering art room: I smell chaos


	12. Wingmans and Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Alix is Nath wingman and helps him asking Marc out on a date." - DSpaceZ
> 
> "yes hello, your writing is a delight and i would like to request a thing. any chance i could get some pre-slash pining idiot boys? maybe some best wingman Marinette?" - Shirrin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Combining two different requests here! They seemed similar enough so I decided it was easier to combine them!

Nathaniel whined over the phone, "Alix, he's just so cute! His eyes are so pretty! They're like emeralds and they sparkle in the sun! His hair looks really soft! I wanna run my hands through it!" As he rambled on and on, Alix finally spoke up.

"Why don't you just confess?"

"M-Me?! Confess?! I can't do that! He probably hates me after I got him akumatized!"

"And yet he still works with you. Why do you think so?" 

"...My art?"

Alix sighed, "God, you really are oblivious. He obviously likes you back Nath."

"He couldn't!" Nathaniel paused. "Could he?"

Alix simply slammed her face on her desk in exasperation.

\---

Marc hugged one of Marinette's pillows close to his chest, "He's just really pretty. His hair looks silky and I find myself wanting to run my fingers through his hair. And Nathaniel took a nap on me one time during lunch and he started cuddling me and I'm pretty sure I died and went to heaven!"

Marinette pricked her finger on the needle she was using, before setting down her supplies, "Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" 

"I can't do that! I know he came out as bi like a week ago, but he wouldn't like me!"

_I'm pretty sure you were his awakening but okay…_

Marinette turned towards him, "You know what? I'm going to help you."

Marc lit up, "Really?"

"Anything for my cousin!" 

\---

Marinette and Alix stood in the former's room, both staring at a whiteboard with ideas.

Alix crossed out another idea, groaning. "Not that one either, huh?"

Marinette frowned, "You know what, why are we thinking so hard about this? We're not Alya! The more _we_ think about this, the more _they're_ gonna think about this."

"Here's the plan."

\---

Nathaniel slowly fiddled with the envelope in hand, standing behind the school. Alix helped him write out his feelings on paper. Now all that was left to do was hand it to the boy. (Alix said she would take care of that.)

...God, he felt like an anime school girl.

Marc walked up, "Oh, Nath?"

Nathaniel looked up, "H-Hi, Marc."

"Marinette told me to meet someone here," He laughed under his breath, "Kinda reminds me of our first meeting, haha."

Nathaniel chuckled, "Yeah."

"What're you holding?"

His eyes trailed down to the letter in hand, "U-Um, it's for you!" Nathaniel quickly shoved the envelope towards Marc, "I'm not good with words, so Alix helped me."

The boy stood there nervously as his crush read his confession.

Marc looked up, a small blush on his cheek, "You...like me?"

Nathaniel felt his face burning hotter, nodding. Marc walked over to him, "I like you too." Nathaniel's body sagged with relief.

"That was no nerve-wracking!" He muttered, leaning into Marc's chest. Marc laughed, and wrapped his arms around Nathaniel's shoulders.

"I'm really glad we feel the same way," Marc mumbled into Nathaniel's hair. 

The redhead leaned back, staring up at Marc, "Me too." They stared at each other for a short moment. "I really want to kiss you."

Marc smiled, "Then by all means, go ahead." 

Nathaniel moved his hands up to Marc's shoulders, drawing their faces closer together. Just as their lips were about to touch, they were really interrupted by a loud cheer. The two boys jolted away from each other. They turned to where the yell came from.

Marinette was trying to force Alix behind the corner of the school. "Don't mind us!"

Alix peeked her head around the corner, "Get laid Nathaniel! I'll cover for you when you're limping tomorrow!"

Nathaniel's face matched his hair as Alix and Marinette ran away.

"THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU ALIX, IT IS ON SIGHT! _ON SIGHT_ !"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small reference to kopycat_101's fic "quiet (with you)" bc I love it


	13. Accidents with Paint and Misunderstandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Marinette goes into a closet to find Nath with his shirt off and Marc on top of him. She misunderstands the situationt because Marc spilled paint on Nathaniel and they tripped." -DSpaceZ

Marc reached up towards a high shelf in a supply closet. Nathaniel watched from besides him.

"Why aren't you helping?"

Nathaniel huffed, "You're taller."

Marc chuckled, "Shortie." As he said that, his hand knocked against a paint bucket, knocking that and a box of fabric down.

Marc dodged the paint, but Nathaniel wasn't as lucky. The blue paint splattered against his shirt.

The victim frowned, "Ugh, now my shirt is wet." He tugged it off over his head.

Marc blushed, looking away. Best not to ravage him when they were still in the school. 

Marc took off his hoodie, walking towards Nath, "You can wear-"

His foot slipped on one of the pieces of fabric that fell earlier. He toppled forward, bringing Nathaniel down with him. 

Marc grunted, leaning over his boyfriend.

_This looks really inappropriate. I hope no one walks in._

The door opened, shining light on Marc on top of a shirtless Nathaniel. Marinette stood there. She shuffled awkwardly before walking away, saying "I won't say anything."

"Wait, wait, MARINETTE IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is like really really really short I'm sorry!


	14. Homophobes Get Beat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Some homophobe makes a nasty comment about gay relationships. Marc tries to hit him, Nath stops him and glares at the guy and the next day, the guy apologizes with bruises all over his face with him flinching everytime he looks at Nathaniel." - DSpaceZ

Nathaniel strolled up to Marc at the beginning of lunch. "Hey, babe!" He leaned up to place a kiss on Marc's cheek. Marc giggled and returned the gesture. 

A guy near them scoffed, "Gays are so repulsive."

Marc turned towards him, "Excuse me?"

"Jesus hates you!"

Marc took a step closer to the homophobe, stretching his arm. He was about to throw a punch when Nathaniel grabbed his arm.

The brunette looked confused as Nathaniel simply shook his head. "He's not worth it."

The guy scoffed, "Like you gays could even throw a punch."

Nathaniel glared at the guy, leading Marc away.

\---

Marc stared shocked at the apologizing boy. He kept bowing up and down to Marc.

"I-I'm sorry. I realized that I was in fact wrong about gay relationships and I will strive to research more in the future."

Marc's gaze traveled over his body, "Why are you covered in bruises?"

The boy looked past Marc before flinching and looking down again.

Marc turned to where the guy was looking. Nathaniel whistled innocently, removing his glare from the guy.

"What did you do?"

"...Nothing."

Marc sighed, "We really need to get you in anger management."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These have been more like mini-shots instead of one shots lately fjrjjrjr
> 
> Sorry bout that


	15. Nondeadly Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Nathmarc Angst because I am an Angst Gremlin who feeds off my OTPs having angst fics bc we all know this isnt gonna happen in canon  
> Also with a side of Lila Rossi Bashing please" - StoryNerd42

Nathaniel paused standing on the bridge where he and Marc were supposed to meet. He only saw Marc on the floor, trembling while three guys walked away snickering.

Nathaniel rushed over, crouching down next to Marc, "Are you okay?! What happened?"

Marc smiled, looking up, "Just some bullies. Don't worry about me."

Nathaniel bit his lip, "But-"

"I'm fine."

He didn't look fine.

The fact Marc wasn't seeking help was what concerned him the most.

\---

Nathaniel sought out the three guys at school the next morning. "I need to talk to you three."

The main bully scoffed from his position leaning against the wall, "Why?"

"Just do it."

The guy spit on the ground (Why? Nathaniel didn't know. Was he trying to seem cool?) before waving over his lackeys, "C'mon."

The group of four walked to the back of the school.

"What's your name?"

"Connor." He didn't bother to introduce his friends. That's fair. They were just filler stereotypical bully sidekick characters.

Nathaniel crossed his arms, "So I saw you beat up a kid yesterday."

"What's it to you?" 

"Yeah, he's someone really important to me so if you could not do that, that'd be great," Nathaniel said, venom coursing through his words.

Connor stepped towards him, the other two surrounding Nathaniel as well, "What makes you think we're gonna listen to you?" The shorter boy looked around, already being able to determine he wouldn't be able to intimidate the three bullies.

He sighed, "What about a deal?"

Connor tilted his head in interest, "What could you possibly offer us?"

"I'll let you use me as a punching bag, no complaints."

Connor smirked at this, "None at all? And you won't tell anyone?"

"Yes, but my only requirements are you have to leave Marc alone and you can't leave bruises on any part I can't cover up with clothes, like my face and neck," He fiddled with his bangs, "I don't have makeup so I wouldn't be able to hide it."

The bully chuckled, "You have a deal."

\---

Nathaniel was really lucky the school year was entering the winter months. No one would look too closely at the fact he was wearing long sleeved clothing.

Alix seemed like she knew something was up. He didn't blame her. Connor and his squad weren't exactly… subtle.

"Hey, dude, you okay?" Alix asked.

Nathaniel turned to her, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. You just randomly ditch hang outs when that guy looks at you. Is something up?"

"Connor?" Nathaniel smiled, "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

Speak of the devil, Connor walked up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "C'mon."

Nathaniel sighed sadly, "Bye Alix." He walked away with the taller boy.

Marc walked up to Alix, rubbing his arm. "He's been doing that more and more lately. I'm worried."

Lila bounced up to them, "Oh, you guys didn't know?"

"...Know what?" Marc asked.

Lila smirked, "I know everything about this school. Would you like to hear?"

"Tell us what's going on!" Alix said.

"Oh, okay! So apparently Nathaniel is sleeping with that guy and his friends for money!"

Marc paled, "He what?" 

Alix opened and closed her mouth a few times. "He wouldn't." 

Lila shrugged. "People are rarely what they present themselves as." She waved and walked away.

\---

 **Stabby Stabby** : Is what Lila said true?

 **Bicon** : You send that like I know what she said lol

 **Stabby Stabby** : She said you were sleeping with Connor and the rest for money

 **Bicon** : What??? Ew

 **Bicon** : First of all, I have a job, why do I need money???

 **Bicon** : Second, I love you. I wouldn't ever betray you like that!

 **Bicon** : I really do want to make up for the whole journal incident. Even if it happened a few months ago.

 **Stabby Stabby** : Then what are you doing with Connor?

 **Bicon** : ...I can't tell you

 **Stabby Stabby** : Nath….

 **Stabby Stabby** : do u not trust me?

 **Bicon** : I do! I just… can't say anything

 **Stabby Stabby** : Are you being blackmailed?! Damn should've stabbed him when he used to bully me

 **Bicon** : lol

 **Bicon** : But no.

 **Bicon** : But I really can't say anything. So please just trust me with this

 **Stabby Stabby** : Okay

 **Stabby Stabby** : But if there's any harm coming to you, tell me. I want you to be safe

 **Bicon** : Okay <3

 **Stabby Stabby** : Good night. Love you! <3

 **Bicon** : Love you too!

\---

Lila walked up to Marc the next day, "Aw, I'm so sorry! I totally forgot yesterday you were dating Nathaniel. Not the best way to find out your boyfriend's selling himself out."

Marc glared at her, "Nath said he wasn't doing that."

"And how could you trust him?" She pondered, "I just saw Nathaniel and his clients going behind the school."

"Don't imply that he's-"

Lila shrugged, "Go check it out if you don't believe me. But don't blame me when you find your boyfriend giving a blow job there." She strutted away.

Marc bit his lip. Nathaniel said to trust him, and he did! It's just with all the rumors and…

Marc should trust him. He doesn't need to go because Nathaniel said they weren't doing it.

...

He gave into his curiosity and went to check out the back of the school.

\---

Connor landed a punch across Nathaniel's jaw. The boy grunted, reaching up to cradle his face. "Hey, the deal was not to mark anywhere I can't cover up." 

He simply got a knee in the stomach. Nathaniel's breath hitched and Connor shoved him down to the floor and starting kicking him. His buddies joined him.

"My!" Kick. "Girlfriend!" Kick. "Broke!" Kick. "Up!" Kick. "With!" Kick. "Me!" Kick. "Because!" Kick. "Of!" Kick. "You!" Kick.

Nathaniel stared up at the assaulter, "I didn't even know you had a girlfriend."

"Well, she heard the rumors we were sleeping together and broke up with me!" Another sharp kick to his chest. "This stupid deal so I wouldn't beat up that girly girl boy cost me my girlfriend!" 

_Well, maybe you just shouldn't beat people in general._

"Why do you even care that much about him?!" Connor lifted Nathaniel up by his collar.

_Someone like you could never understand sacrificing yourself for someone you love._

Connor laughed magically, "Oh, someone you love?"

Fuck, he said that out loud, didn't he?

"You two are dating, aren't you?!" Connor slammed him down to the ground.

Nathaniel could hear a cracking sound from the arm he landed on. That probably wasn't good. 

"Look, can you just stop beating me up?! Then you wouldn't even be in this situation!"

"I mean if you really don't want to, I could always find your boyfriend," The guy smirked, "So what's your decision? You or your precious lover?"

Nathaniel's silence spoke volumes.

The boy chuckled, although he didn't get much farther than that. Marc had appeared out of nowhere, decking the guy across the face. He forced him to the ground face down, slamming his head into the ground several times. The others had already fled long before this. Marc quickly scooped Nathaniel up, running out of the alleyway as the anguished screams echoed loudly.

Marc looked down at Nathaniel, "Did you make a deal so I wouldn't get beat up?!"

"Maybe?"

Marc came to a stop, dropping down to the ground, adjusting their positions so he could stare into Nathaniel's eyes, "Nath, we could've just called a teacher!" 

"Connor's parents are one of the school's top donators. Have you seen Chloe?"

Marc bit his lip, "...Why did you make the deal?"

Nathaniel looked down, "I wanted you to be safe."

Marc sighed, pressing his forehead to Nathaniel's, "Self sacrificing bitch." His words were light but the shaking of his body showed he thought the exact opposite of the situation. "Please, just tell me you want to help next time."

"Would you have let me?" Marc didn't answer. "You said you were fine. But you were bruised and laying on the ground. If it got worse, you would've still insisted you were fine." Nathaniel's voice cracked, "I want you to be actually fine instead of lying."

"I'm sorry." Marc murmured. 

"You better be." Nathaniel replied. They leaned back from each other. "Ow!"

Marc scanned over his body, already seeing a bruise forming on his chin. "Is it your face?" 

Nathaniel turned to his arm, "Um, I think my arm is broken. I heard it crack." 

Marc called an ambulance. Shortly after hanging up, he turned to Nathaniel. He scooted closer, leaning his head on Nathaniel's shoulders.

"We'll be okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if this was actually that angsty lol
> 
> Only mildly Lila salt bc she genuinely believes the rumors


	16. A Fan On the Street

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I have a prompt, how about a fan stopping the class on the street to ask for an autograph and then Lila's like here you go, but the fan is like no not you the creators of the Ladybug comics." - Mpuppy5885

"Oh my god!" 

The entire class (plus Marc, since Nathaniel and Marinetre had invited him) paused, turning to the source of the shout.

The girl squealed, "I can't believe I'm meeting someone famous while on a walk! Can I get an autograph?! I'm such a big fan!"

Lila sauntered forward, "Of course! It's so embarrassing to be noticed on the street like this though." She ripped a piece of paper out of the back of Nathaniel's sketchbook (only after snatching it out of his hands without permission. Marc had to hold him back from mauling the girl). Lila wrote her name on it before handing it to the girl. Nathaniel also stormed over to Lila and took back his sketchbook.

The fan looked confused, "Um. Sorry, I wasn't talking to you. I don't even know who you are."

Lila gaped in surprise. Chloe huffed, walking over, "She's obviously talking about me!" She struck a pose, "I'm not surprised though! I'm amazing! Anyone would want an autograph from me!"

"....Aren't you that one girl who keeps getting attacked by akumas because _you_ cause them?"

Chloe sputtered, "No!"

"She's a liar!" Adrien yelled. Chloe gasped in offense.

"Then it's probably mister model," Nino bumped his into Adrien's side with a teasing smile.

"Haha, yeah, yeah!"

The fan clicked her tongue, "Actually…" She pushed past the group towards Marc showing Nathaniel something on his phone while both giggled.

"You two are the creators of the Ladybug comics, right?!" 

Nathaniel and Marc paused and looked at the fan.

"Yes? Did you want something?"

She clasped her hands together, "Can you please give me a autograph? You two are my biggest inspirations from a fellow artist!" The two boys seemed surprised.

"Oh, of course!" Nathaniel took the paper Lila had stolen from him, ripping off her name (that was accompanied by her squawking, which was immensely satisfying), and scribbling his name on it. He passed the paper to Marc, who did the same thing.

"Here you go!"

"Thank you so much!" She squealed, running away, hugging the sheet of paper.

"She seemed nice!" Nathaniel cheered.

Alix looked around at the faces who mostly seemed to accept this turn of events, "Okay, is it just me, or are there _way_ too many famous people in our class?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to short one shots now >:))


	17. Dehydrated Rainbow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "skdjfhsdh Poor Nathaniel. Come on, you can tell Marc what the dream was about. He'd be lying if he hadn't had the same dream, but with Evilustrator kidnapping *him*" - Sinnamon_Troll

Marc casually walked down the road towards his home. His walk was interrupted when a limousine pulled up besides him. Marc slowed his pace, curious to find out who was in the limousine.

The window rolled down, revealing a purple face with red hair.

"Uh…" Marc didn't know to address him.

"Evillustrator." He opened the door, "Wanna get in?"

...It was an akuma. Did he really have an choice?

Marc climbed into the limousine. Evillustrator snapped his fingers, closing the door. The car started driving again.

"Who's driving?" Marc got comfortable in the seat. 

"Self driving car," Evillustrator pulled out a bottle from a bucket of ice.

"We're minors," Marc immediately stated.

"It's apple juice," Evillustrator shrugged, opening the bottle and pouring it into two glasses he drew into existence. He handed one to Marc, who downed in immediately.

Marc wiped his mouth, "So, why am I in here?"

Evillustrator raised an eyebrow, "We're dating."

Marc rolled his eyes, "Yes, sure, that's a totally valid reason." 

Evillustrator finished his juice, placing it aside, "It's not like you're complaining."

"Hm?"

"I haven't seen you try to escape once."

"Why don't you show me what that means?" Marc suggested, giving Evillustrator a suggestive glance.

He chuckled and pushed Marc down onto the seat, pressing their lips together. He slid a hand underneath Marc's shirt.

The akuma leaned back, "Marccc!"

Marc blinked, "Eh?"

\---

Nathaniel shook Marc awake, "Marcccc!"

Marc blinked his eyes, "Huh? What's up?"

Nathaniel blushed, looking away slightly, "Uh… You were moaning...in your sleep….really loudly."

Marc simply stared up at a ceiling.

"You know, Mightyllustrator could basically be a sugar daddy."

"Please don't make me imagine that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sugar daddy joke stolen from Sin, the person who suggested the idea lol


	18. Blade and Crimson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gang AU gang AU gang au-
> 
> (Completely unrelated to the "Marc being in a gang rights" fic-)

Nathaniel missed his mom. She died when he was younger. It would be fine living with his dad. Or at least, that's what he thought.

The potential successful company his dad had started crashed and burned. He went down with his company, spiraling and falling into alcoholism. 

Nathaniel had to spend most of his time doing errands around the neighborhood to gain money. Not an easy task for a nine year old. Speaking of the neighborhood, Nathaniel always heard rumors it was owned by a gang and something bad would happen if you didn't pay the rent. That was all he heard though. It's not like anyone would tell this information to a nine year old.

But they were just rumors!

Right?

\---

Nathaniel entered his house after returning from school. He had fallen asleep in class again. Doing errands then staying up late to finish homework really took a lot of energy out of him, plus waking early to make breakfast.

He heard a lot of shouting from the living room. Nathaniel peeked around the corner (He had learned to observe the room before he entered, lest he wanted a glass bottle smashed on his head.), only seeing three adults, two male, one female, plus one boy around his age staring at his dad. His dad was waving around a bottle, screaming.

"Sorry, you just haven't paid your rent. You have to move out by the end of this week," One of the men explained in a calm tone. Nathaniel gasped quietly. He hadn't made enough money this month? But he was sure he had! Nathaniel even gave it to his dad so he wouldn't spend it on art supplies on a whim! But as his eyes traveled to the beer cases Nathaniel never bought, he understood what happened.

The other man shifted and turned to the woman, "Should your brother be here? He's only nine."

The woman rolled her eyes, "It's fine."

Nathaniel's dad looked around frantically, "I can give you something else! I can! I can!" His eyes landed on Nathaniel. "I'll give you him!" All heads in the room turned to the small boy. He squeaked.

"Nathaniel, go with them so your dad can keep living!" 

The leader clicked his tongue, "Alright, we'll take your son." He turned to the small boy at his side, "Marc, why don't you go help him collect his stuff?"

Marc hummed, making his way over to Nathaniel, "I'm Marc! I'm guessing you're Nathaniel?"

The redhead, head still spinning, nodded. Marc smiled and pulled him towards the hallway, "C'mon, let's get your stuff!"

The woman turned to the drunk man. "Now, we'll still be taking your house."

The man roared in frustration, grabbing onto his passing son's hair, "This is all your fault! Why didn't you get enough money?!"

Nathaniel cried out from the painful yanking on his scalp. The woman shoved his dad back as Marc quickly took him away.

Nathaniel ran to his room with Marc.

The boy turned to him, "Are you okay?"

Nathaniel sniffled, "Why doesn't dad want me?" The sniffles turned into full on sobbing. Marc comforted the boy until his crying calmed down.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," Marc calmly said, "But it'll never happen again. We'll make sure of it!" Nathaniel looked up.

"You promise?"

Marc hummed, "I do!" They were cut off by a loud bang.

Nathaniel jumped, "What was that?" It seemed he didnt recognize the noise. Marc did though. He had heard the sound a lot.

It was a gunshot. 

Marc smiled at Nathaniel, "Hey, let's get your stuff."

They spent the next fifteen minutes gathering Nathaniel's stuff.

Marc pulled Nathaniel out of the house, moving extra quickly past the living room. 

Nathaniel didn't understand why, but he didn't particularly want to see his dad either, the meanie.

\---

Upon reaching their base of operations, an underground bunker, Nathaniel was promptly informed he was now part of a gang. He was quickly assured they wouldn't hurt him or force him into joining them. To their surprise, Nathaniel gladly joined the gang. He wanted to bring karma to the awful people the law never caught.

Nathaniel was checked over by the gang's resident medic. He spent a lot of time with her, as he only just joined the gang and had to train before going out to join them. They grew very close so she ended up adopting him. She let him use his mom's last name as his legal name though. Nathaniel said it was in remembrance of her.

Marc grew up to be the gang's most proficient knife users. He was quickly assigned on most of their offensive missions.

When Nathaniel joined the gang, it quickly became evident he was a great fighter. Some observations showed his reaction time increased when fighting with Marc, so the higher ups assigned him as Marc's bodyguard.

They became well known as the criminal duo of Blade and Crimson. No one wanted to get in their way, lest they wanted a slash across their chest or pummeled into the ground.

With all the missions, the gang had them homeschooled. It was easier to schedule that way.

\---

Marc's sister sat in front of the two boys, "Since you're both sixteen, it might be best if you two start interacting with kids your age. So we're sending you to public school."

"Public school?!" Marc, having never been to public school, shouted excitedly. "Do we get to go to the same one as Marinette?!"

She nodded, "You'll be going there next school year."

Marc exclaimed in joy.

\---

Marinette ran up to her cousin the day before school, "Marc! You're going to my school?"

Marc giggled and hugged her, "I'm so excited!" They jumped up and down a couple times.

After she left, Nathaniel walked up to Marc, "What class are you in? I'm in Mrs. Bustier's."

Marc frowned, "Aw, I'm not." He beamed at him, "It's fine! We'll just hang at lunch!"

Nathaniel blushed at the attention, "Yeah…"

\---

Marinette recognized the red-haired boy (Nathaniel, she believed) vaguely. Whenever she visited Marc, he'd always run behind a corner and disappear every time she saw him. So they obviously knew each other. But how…

One day, she noticed Marc was absent. Marinette went up to Nathaniel, "Hey, do you know Marc?" 

He jolted, "U-Um, yes? We're friends."

She narrowed her eyes, "Friends or more?" Marinette had seen the subtext between the two boys. Nathaniel blushed and started stuttering out a flimsy denial. Marinette squealed, "Oh, you're crushing on Marc, aren't you!?"

He dipped his head, hiding his red face, "I..am. But he won't feel the same, I know it."

Marinette pat his shoulder, "You should go for it. Better getting rejected than fussing over it for the rest of your life."

He smiled, "Thank you."

She beamed, "No problem!"

If Marc texted her later, screaming about having a boyfriend, she didn't reveal her involvement.

\---

The student body screamed and backed away from a person in the middle of the courtyard, waving a knife.

"BLADE AND CRIMSON ARE HERE! I KNOW THEY ARE! REVEAL YOURSELVES!"

Marinette whimpered from her spot next to Nathaniel and Marc, "What are they talking about?"

"WE'LL START KILLING STUDENTS IF YOU DON'T COME OUT!"

Marc sighed, turning to Nathaniel, "Ready?"

He nodded, "Ready."

Marc stepped into the courtyard, "What do you want?" 

The guy cackled, "I want you and your partner dead!" He rushed forward towards Marc, who sidestepped, revealing Nathaniel. The redhead grabbed the guy, flipping him onto the ground with a crunch. Marc took his knife from him and stabbed him in the leg, causing an scream to erupt from the guy.

"Just to ensure you don't move while we wait for the police to get here!" Marc cheered, innocently. 

The police did eventually arrive. Nathaniel and Marc weren't charged as it was labelled as self defense. 

The student body gained a new respect for the shyest boys in the school.


	19. The Dragon's Prisoner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This oneshot takes place in a fantasy AU

News spread quickly throughout the kingdom. While visiting the prince of the Kurtzberg kingdom, the princess of the Kubdel kingdom had been captured by a dragon.

The kings and queens for both kingdoms were offering the prisoner's hand in marriage and a large sum of money. 

"Marc, please go and rescue the princess!" His sister pleaded.

"What?! Why me?! I don't want to marry her! I'm _gay_ !"

"Marc, we're low on funds! We need the money!"

Marc crossed his arms, "If all those knights returned from the dragon's tower empty handed, what makes you think _I_ can do it?!"

"Please just try!"

Marc sighed, "Okay."

\---

The journey wasn't even that hard. He just sidestepped most of the enemies. He didn't even need to pull out his sword! Marc quickly reached the top of the tower where the dragon boasted he kept the princess. 

Marc walked up to the door, jumping back when the dragon appeared in front of him.

“To enter this room and save my mate,” The dragon breathed out, along with smoke, “You must give me your first born daughter.”

_Hold up, mate? Ew._

_And giving away first borns?_

_Is this why all the knights turned away?_

Marc, being the raging homosexual he was, accepted the deal with no hesitation, “Alright!”

“Wait, really? Usually there’s some apprehension about giving your children away.”

“Bye!” Marc sing-songed, gliding past the dragon and into the room.

The princess looked up as he entered the room. She was wearing a grand red dress that spread out from her seated position on the floor. Most of her red hair fell in front of her left eye. A chain connected her left foot to the wall.

"Um, you're the princess, correct?"

The girl chuckled, although the voice was a lot lower than he was expecting. "Actually, I'm prince Nathaniel of the Kurtzberg kingdom."

Marc blinked, "What?"

"It's a long story."

_Alix never liked wearing the dresses her family forced her into. Since their families expected them to get married, she spent a lot of time with Nathaniel. That time quickly made them best friends. She even trusted him with the information of not feeling romantic attraction._

_So obviously, Nathaniel offered to switch clothes so she would feel more comfortable. Alix wore his clothes and he wore hers. This was all in his room._

_They weren't expecting anyone to interupt, let alone a dragon crashing through the wall. It assumed Nathaniel was the princess, considering he was wearing the dress, and took him in its talons, flying away. The screams of both teens would echo through the kingdom._

“Oh, well, you’re still hella cute.”

Nathaniel blushed and looked away, “I just told you I’m a guy?”

“And I’m gay, what’s your point?”

If it was possible, Nathaniel blushed more.

Marc walked over and swung his sword onto the chain holding Nathaniel captive. It shattered at the blow. Marc helped the royalty up.

He manhandled him into a bridal position, "Shall we get out of it tower, my highness?" He punctuated the question with a wink.

_WHERE WAS THIS CONFIDENCE COMING FROM?!_

Nathaniel's face was now matching his hair.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! FUCK, HE'S CUTE!_

They left the tower quickly, leaving the dragon behind.

On their way back to the kingdom, they bonded, talking about any and everything. Nathaniel even wanted to travel again with Marc someday.

\---

Once getting back to the castle, Marc asked for Nathaniel's hand in marriage, forgetting that the rulers thought it was Alix who was captured. Needless to say, it was quite a shock to see a villager boy carrying the crown prince, who was wearing the princess' dress, then the villager asking for the _prince's_ hand in marriage.

They attempted to argue, but Marc argued back that they said the reward would be the prisoner's hand in marriage, so they could do nothing in the end.

Apparently, Alix got away with not being seen by locking herself in Nathaniel's room and pretending she was Nathaniel in mourning over the loss of Alix, too gloomy to come out. Nathaniel had mild offense that everyone just believed that and didn't try to coax her out.

Marc and Nathaniel did end up getting married and traveling the kingdoms. 

They lived an amazing life, side by side with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nath in a dress, Nath in a dress, Nath in a-


	20. A New Fur-end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "In the future when Marc and Nathaniel are living together
> 
> Marc brings home a cat.
> 
> Also Nath doesn't like it at first bur it cuddles with him and his heart melts
> 
> then Marc gets jealous of the cat." - MiraculousPyro
> 
> "extra kudos if the cat is white with blue eyes named chat blanc..." - cat

It was a surprise when Marc brought in a white cat, “Nathaniel, look what I got!”

“Did you...buy a cat?”

“Yeah, and I have supplies in the car.”

Nathaniel blinked, “It’s been two months of us having our own house and you’ve already done this, wow. Are you sure?”

Marc huffed, “Just give Blanc a try!”

“Wow, creative name.”

“Shut up.”

\---

For all his hesitation, Nathaniel ended up showering the cat in affection, and the cat returned it vigorously. Nathaniel would always pet it whenever he entered the room and the cat’s favorite spot was Nathaniel’s lap.

Marc knew he was the one who brought the cat into the house, but come on! The cat practically got more attention than him these days!

...Maybe he was over exaggerating. 

\---

Marc and Nathaniel were laying in bed, simply cuddling when Blanc jumped onto the bed. It purred and attempted to lay on Nathaniel. It made eye contact with Marc who quietly hissed at the blue eyed feline. The cat turned around, jumped off, and left, going to find its own bed.

“D...Did you just hiss at a cat?”

Marc blushed, ducking his head into Nathaniel’s shoulder, “...No.”

Nathaniel went silent for a few moments, “M-Marc, did you get jealous of a  _ cat _ ?”

If possible, he blushed harder, “Okay so what if I did?”

Nathaniel laughed, facing Marc, kissing his face, “Silly boy. I’d love you more than that cat any day of the year, or my name isn’t Nathaniel Kurtzberg.”

Marc pulled him closer, “Well, your name is going to be Nathaniel Anciel in a couple months, remember?”

Nathaniel blushed and Marc kissed his forehead.

The two fiances fell asleep tangled in each other’s limbs.

And if they woke up with a cat on top of them, Marc wasn’t as jealous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter jdkfs aaaaa


	21. A One Way Wish to Happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinderella AU bc I like writing Nathaniel in dresses lol

Nathaniel lived with his stepmother, Audrey, and his two stepsisters, Chloe and Lila. They hated doing any physical work, so they pushed it all on him.

One day, the kingdom released a notice of a party meant to find a potential wife for Prince Marc. The girls were all excited to go, and Nathaniel just wanted to get out of the house.

Audrey forbid him from going and forced him to stay behind. She said if he wasn't done with all his chores by the time they got back he would be punished.

Nathaniel isn't exactly sure what that means, but he wasn't about to find out.

\---

Nathaniel collapsed on the bench in the garden, groaning.

"I wish I could just go to the party."

With an explosion of glitter, a blue haired girl with tiny wings on her back and a wand appeared, "Wish, you say?"

Like any sane person, Nathaniel backed away and screamed.

"Wait, no, don't scream! I can help!" 

"Who are you?!"

“Marinette! I grant wishes!” She explained, “Would you like to go to the prince’s party?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Great! I can help!” She waved her wand, causing sparkles to appear around Nathaniel. When they vanished, he was left in an entirely new outfit. He reached up to brush away his bangs, but quickly realized they were pinned up with a hairpin in a ponytail on the backside of his head. Nathaniel spun around.

“Why am I wearing a dress?” 

The dress he was wearing was a deep blue. It went all the way down to his feet. Lifting up the dress a little revealed he was wearing brown flats.

Marinette hummed, “The rest of the people your age there are going to be wearing dresses, since they’re going there to court the prince. If you go in a suit, you’ll stand out. Normally, you’re supposed to wear glass heels, but I doubt you’re proficient enough to dance in those.”

Nathaniel had never been so offended by something he agreed one hundred percent with.

“You have to be back by midnight, though!” Marinette warned, “Any longer and the magic disappears!”

Nathaniel nodded in understanding, “How will I get there?”

That question was answered with a wave of a wand, turning some things in the backyard into a carriage and driver.

“Remember!” Marinette called as the carriage made its way to the party, “Midnight!”

He sighed in preparation, “Midnight.”

\---

Marc sighed, sitting on the throne. Multiple ladies had tried to gain his favor this evening. His parents were getting more and more impatient for him to get a wife.

He really had to tell them he's gay sometime soon…

When his parents were distracted, he sneaked out to the front of the castle. Marc sat outside on the stairs, sighing.

He didn't want a wife. He wasn't even interested in woman! How would his parents react though? 

Small footsteps ended in front of him. Marc looked up from her blue dress into stunning blue eyes.

The redhead tilted her head, "Are you okay?"

He shrugged, "Don't you want to go inside with the party?" Idly, Marc noted her voice was deep for a girl.

"You seem upset. I think that's more important than a party." The girl sat down next to him, "What's up?"

Marc pulled his legs closer to himself, "I...have something controversial I need to tell my parents. But I don't know how they'll react. What if it's a bad reaction?"

The girl rubbed his shoulder, "If they truly love you, they'll accept you. If not, one day, you'll find a true family who does."

Marc smiled at her, "Thanks." He leaned back on his hands, "...I'm not interested in females."

The girl tilted her head, "Oh?"

"Yeah, my parents threw this entire party to get me a wife, you know?"

The girl made a panicked noise, "You're the prince?"

Marc chuckled, "How did you not know that? My face is plastered all over the invitations."

"Um, I'm not technically supposed to be here? My stepmother forbid me to come."

"Ah, a rebel. I respect that."

She giggled.

"You know, if you weren't a girl, I'd totally be into you."

"Uh...About that, I'm a guy."

Marc blinked, "What?"

"Hi, I'm Nathaniel," He twirled his hair. "Nice to meet you. Not a great first impression, I know." 

The prince smiled, "Not really. In fact, I'd like to know more."

They spent the next hours talking and laughing. They fit together like two puzzle pieces.

Marc noticed Kim, one of his advisors, walk out.

"Marc! Your parents have been looking for you! They want you to choose a wife!

Marc pursed his lips.

Nathaniel looked up at the clock, "Wait, what time is it?" He quickly got up, panicked, "Oh no, it's almost twelve." 

Marc stood up next to him, "What's wrong?"

"Remember how I said I wasn't allowed to be here? Yeah, my… curfew is almost up. I have to go!" Marc caught Nathaniel's hand before he ran away.

"Will I see you again?"

Nathaniel smiled sadly, "I doubt it." He took the hairpin out of his hair, causing his bangs to fall in front of his left eye. Now that it was in his hand, he noticed it was carved like a red phoenix. He placed it in Marc's hand. "Have this to remember me." Nathaniel placed a quick kiss on Marc's cheek. He shyly smiled, before turning and running down the stairs.

Kim watched him run away, "Marc? Can I assume you want to marry her?"

Marc nodded, watching the love of his life run away.

"We'll make preparations to find her then!" Kim cheered, "The prince and his love will be reunited!"

\---

Nathaniel was locked in his room, which was the attic, as punishment for not completing his chores. It was intended to last a couple days. Audrey hid the key in her room to guarantee he wouldn't be getting out.

Marc and Kim went around the kingdom the next day, Kim asking each household if they knew of a red haired woman who had their hair pinned up last night. Marc was trying to figure out how to tell him they were looking for a guy.

The news reached Chloe and Lila before Marc and Kim did. To prepare, they dumped red paint on their hair to make it look like they were natural redheads.

Currently, Marc was asking the ladies if they knew the owner of the hairpin. Chloe flipped her hair.

"Obviously! I own that hairpin! I'm your lover, Markie!" Marc recoiled at the nickname, a little disgusted.

Lila started tearing up, "Chloe?! How could you do that to me? I'm your sister and you have the audacity to claim my hairpin is yours? You know how much I love Marc!"

Kim turned to Marc, "It has to be one of them…"

Marc shook his head, "It can't be." He tightened his grip on the hairpin, "I.. was talking with a boy that night."

Kim made a surprised noise, "Oh."

Marc sighed sadly, walking out the door, "I haven't seen him at all. It's not like he's gonna fall into my arms."

\---

Nathaniel groaned, shifting in the mass of blankets he called a bed. "I'm so boreeedd."

Did Audrey expect him to stay up there all day?

While being bored out of his mind, he thought back to a conversation Marc and him had.  
  
_"My family doesn't really treat me right…"_

_"Why don't you just leave?"_

_"They're my family. I can't do that!"_

_"I don't think they count as your family if they don't respect you."_

_"...So you're saying I should leave."_

_"I'll make sure there's always a place at the palace for you."_

Maybe Nathaniel should take up that offer. He knew there was a tree near the attic window. Maybe he could climb down that and escape.

Nathaniel opened the window, swinging his legs out of the opening. He reached out for the branch. The boy spent several minutes there, attempting to not fall.

He did eventually grab the branch. 

"Yes!" He whispered in triumph, before the rest of his body slipped from the window. He let go of the branch in shock, falling down multiple stories.

\---

As Marc said his despair filled statement, Nathaniel fell directly into his arms. He stumbled a bit, but managed to not fall from the sudden weight.

"Nathaniel?"

"H-Hi, Marc."

Marc squealed, spinning Nathaniel around, "I found you! I really found you!" Nathaniel laughed, grabbing onto Marc in return.

The prince turned to his advisor, "Okay, we're good to go!"

Chloe sputtered, "Why would you want garbage when you could have me?"

Lila crossed her arms, "Or me?"

Marc narrowed his eyes at the two, "Why should I listen to people who tried to fake being him?"

That shut them up quickly.

Marc and Kim left with one more person than they arrived with.

The wedding was grand and Marc and Nathaniel ruled the kingdom, leading it to a golden age.

Chloe, Lila, and Audrey had to suffer away in their house. But who cares what happens to them, right?


	22. Bunk Bed Positions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Minus the Bunk)
> 
> "The Art Club are heading back to class after break and overhear an interesting debate going on with their other class members... the debate being on out of Marc or Nath who is the Top/Bottom. For some reason I can see Kim, Max, Chloe and Alya really getting into this." - cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: The title for this oneshot in google docs is "Is he Top or Bottom (To the tune of Gay or European)"

As the lunch bell rang, Nathaniel walked out of the door to meet his boyfriend. Alya watched as Nathaniel placed a kiss on Marc’s hand, the latter blushing furiously. They left, giggling all the way.

Kim sighed, shaking his head, “Nathaniel is such a bottom.”

Alya turned towards him, “I’m sorry, did we just watch the same boy? Because Nathaniel is definitely the top in that relationship.”

Kim scoffed, “I know you just transferred this year, so you haven’t felt the absolute _bottom energy_ Nathaniel radiates, so I won’t hold it against you.”

Alya huffed, crossing her arms, “Well he radiates less bottom energy around his boyfriend. Therefore, Nathaniel is the top.”

Max pushed up his glasses, “I’d like to argue with you on that.”

Chloe sputtered, “You’re all ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! He’s obviously the top!”

Adrien turned to Nino, “Why are they so concerned over who's the top and bottom? I’d just be lucky to have a bunk bed!”

Nino slowly placed his headphones on Adrien’s ears, “How about you listen to some music recommendations I have instead of this conversation?”

“Okay!”

Alix clapped her hands to stop the four arguing teens, “Hey, I have a better idea.”

Alya pointed at the short girl, “You’re his best friend! You tell us!”

Alix snickered, “Better yet, let’s place bets.” She turned to the residents of the art club, “You three aren’t allowed to bet since you already know.” 

“Fair,” Juleka shrugged. Marinette moved her hand away from her money.

Max pulled out some bills from his pockets. “Five euros on bottom.”

Alya placed down more bills in front of her, “Fifteen euros on top!”

“Ten euros on bottom!” Kim shouted.

Chloe gave Alix her bill, “ _Fifty_ euros on top.” The girl held back a laugh at how much money Chloe was wasting.

Alya shook her head at the boys, “You’re wasting your money. Marc is so much shyer than Nathaniel, so that obviously must transfer to the bedroom as well.”

Alix turned to the rest of the class, “Any other bets?” No one bet any money, but everyone who was able to voice their thoughts (which meant everyone except the art club and Adrien) agreed Nathaniel was a top.

Oh boy, they were in for a shock.

“Objection! Have you seen how many times Nathaniel wears Marc’s hoodie to class?” Kim argued back, slamming his hands on his desk, “That’s such a bottom move!”

“Hold it, you’re saying the person who almost _killed_ three people while akumatized would just sit down and let someone else take the wheel,” Chloe crossed her arms, “I doubt it.”

The art club was wheezing at this point.

“We’re having a real life Phoenix Wright trial in our class,” Marinette giggled.

At this point, Nathaniel and Marc returned to the class, wondering where everyone was.

“Nathaniel is totally a top!” Chloe stated as he entered.

“I’m sorry, _what_?” Nathaniel said, astonishment clear in his voice. Marc wheezed behind him.

Alix waved her hand, counting the bills in her hand, “We’re betting on whether you’re a top or bottom!” She said it so nonchalantly. 

“Why are you encouraging this?” Nathaniel muttered, rubbing his face in his hands.

Kim pointed at the boy, “Look he’s wearing Marc’s hoodie! It’s just like I said.”

Max stared at the girls, “Wearing a lover’s hoodie could also be a tactic to hide hickies made during sex.” The rest of the class muttered quietly at this, nodding along to the statement.

Alix choked on her laughter. Nathaniel’s face flushed red.

“I’M JUST COLD AND ASKED TO WEAR HIS JACKET! YOU’RE ALL DIRTY MINDED!”

“Well?” Alya pressed, “You’re the top, right?”

Nathaniel responded by turning around and walking out of the classroom. As he walked out, he said something loud enough for the class to hear.

“Remove me from this hellhole called life.”

“He’s a bottom!” Marc shouted out, before running after his boyfriend. He could hear triumphant screaming from Kim and shocked shrieks from the rest of the class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doesn't exactly follow the prompt but the idea of Alix hosting a betting pool over whether Nath is a top or bottom is really funny to me edikjbfs


	23. Failed Homewrecker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The class gets a new student who gets a bit of a crush on Nath, and is upset when he finds out Nath has a bf already. Until he sees him with Marc.... "you two little ukes need a seme" with your take on our rainbowtomatos reaction." - cat

John sat in his seat. He was a new student in Mrs. Bustier’s class. Currently, the boy found himself staring at the cute redhead sitting across from him. 

It was break time so Nathaniel was drawing in his sketchbook. John ripped a page out of his own journal and wrote something on it. He threw the note over to Nathaniel.

_ Heya ;) You’re kinda cute, you know? Wanna get some food after school together? _

Nathaniel bit his lip, reading the note. John smiled. Maybe that was a sign of interest? His crush scribbled his response before throwing the note back at him.

_ Sorry, I already have a boyfriend. And we kinda just met so? _

John looked up to see a sheepish smile from Nathaniel before he returned to his artwork.

Damn, so he was taken. That was upsetting, but he could get over it.

\---

John watched as Nathaniel met up with another boy, presumably his boyfriend, near the wall, pressing a kiss to his cheek. The other boy blushed, hiding his face in his hood. Nathaniel’s face was a similar color, seemingly flustered even though he was the one who did the romantic gesture.

Ah, so both bottoms, were they?

John strolled over to the two boys, placing a hand over Nathaniel’s shoulder, looming over the teens with his height difference, “You two ukes look like you need a seme. I’d be happy to fill the role.” 

Marc wrapped his arms around Nathaniel’s shoulders, pulling him towards his chest, prompting the other to let out a squeak.

“Sorry,” His voice dripped with venom, “It’s a little rude of you to assume we’re both ukes, hm?”

Throughout this time, all that was going through Nathaniel’s head was  _ what is a uke and seme? _

Marc glared at the boy, “You’re the one who tried asking Nath out on a date, right? I’d be fine with that cause you didn’t know he was in a relationship, but continuing to go after him after gaining that knowledge? Gross.” He quickly glided away from John, taking Nathaniel with him.

Nathaniel just had one question, “W...What is a uke and seme?”

Marc patted his head, “Don’t worry about it.” 

  
  
They heard the sound of smoke behind them.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Marc whispered under his breath, starting to speed away from the noise, “Haha, how did I not know that would cause an akuma?”

Nathaniel shook his head in fond exasperation, “Ready for me to show you the disappearing act?”

“Please do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name from Pyro in the discord server lol


	24. A Siren's Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Nathaniel is on a yacht at a party that his dad made him go to, and invited his class to, long story short Lila hates that her class mate is being respected and practically doted on while she i being ignored so she does the smart thing and pushes him off the boat. Siren!Marc is swimming with his cousin Mari at the time and he brings him to a cave that has a large air pocket and rocks to sit on. Hours of bonding later a search party has commenced for Nathaniel who is thE SON OF THE HOST HOW COULD YOU LOSE HIM, and Lila has finally figured out why so many people were doing as he said, the security tapes are watched Lila is cornered on the main deck by a VERY ANGRY Mr. K, Cue Marc showing up with Nath in his arms, chewing out Lila, Giving Nath a conch shell to use at the beach and dissapearing
> 
> Months later Nath blows it on the beach  
> "Hey there pretty stranger" " -TheOneYouShouldNotHaveKilled

Upon arriving in class Friday, the students found tickets to an exclusive formal yacht party sitting on their desks. They all assumed it was from Adrien and got excited for the party happening the next day.

A certain redhead smiled from his spot in the back of the classroom.

\---

Lila knew Adrien was the one who invited the class. Chloe was too mean and everyone else was too poor. And she was essentially his girlfriend! She should be getting the queen treatment from all the staff!

She walked up to a staff member at a snack table, “Get me a watermelon slice!”

The worker rolled his eyes at her pompous attitude, “Sorry, those are out. They’re reserved by the top people at this party.”

Lila twirled her hair around her fingers, “Well, I  _ am  _ Adrien’s girlfriend so…”

“Kid, I don’t care about your high school relationship.” The Italian sputtered at that.

She stormed away. Nathaniel walked up to her, “Are you okay?”   
  


“The worker wouldn’t give me watermelon!”

“I mean, fair, I think it’s reserved for the hosts and their families only,” Nathaniel mused.

Lila stomped her feet on the floor, “But I really want that watermelon! And I totally count as family! Why didn’t they give me that watermelon?!” Nathaniel looked her up and down, confused.

“I mean, if you really want, I can get you that watermelon.” 

Lila scoffed, “Like you would be able to get it.”

Nathaniel left and soon returned with the watermelon slice she wanted.

She stuttered, grabbing the fruit, “How did you get this?!”

“I asked?” He shrugged, and walked away.

Lila sneered after him.

How come he got special treatment and not her?! She was the model’s girlfriend! She should be the one getting that!

Without thinking, she rushed forward and shoved him over the railing. The boy was so shocked he didn’t even scream as he fell into the ocean. Lila smirked as he sank below the water’s surface.

That felt  _ great. _

\---

Nathaniel was panicking as he struggled against the waves. A suit and tie were not the best things to be swimming in. Adding that he didn’t exercise that much, the ocean quickly overwhelmed him and he dropped into the water.

It was so cold. Should he keep swimming? It’s not like he could get back to the surface again. 

So the boy gave up, sinking deeper into the water’s darkness, closing his eyes.

\---

Marc swam around with his cousin under the waves. Normally, it was dangerous to go near the surface, but Marc liked seeing the sky.

Marinette bit her lip, “Should we be up this high?”

Marc smiled, “It’ll be fine!” 

They both jolted as something crashed through the water. Marc watched as a human struggled for a few seconds before giving into the relentless waves.

He went to swim towards it, but Marinette held him back.

“Marc, that’s a human!” She hissed.

“And he’s going to drown!” He argued back, breaking free of her grasp. Marc grabbed onto the unconscious boy, “You know the cave we hang out in? There’s an air pocket in it, right?”

Marinette nodded, “Are we going there?” She didn’t get an answer as Marc rushed past her. Wordless, Marinette followed.

\---

Nathaniel woke up, shivering, laying on a ground made of rock. He hacked some water out of his throat as he sat up.

“Are you okay?” 

  
  
Nathaniel jumped back from the voice, startled. He turned towards the water where he saw a shirtless black haired boy watching him.

“A-Aren’t you cold? Shouldn’t you get out of the water?”

The boy tilted his head, confused. Nathaniel’s voice died in his throat as he watched a red tail rise out of the water. He squeaked, scooting back, hitting the cave wall with his back.

_ Why was he here? _

_ Lila pushed him over. _

_ Why did she push him over? _

_ I don’t know. _

_ Who is this boy? _

_ Why does he have a tail? _

_ Where am I? _

_ Am I dead? _

Nathaniel’s breath quickened without him knowing it. Marc noticed immediately as the human started curling into a ball and hyperventilating.

He sang a soft song. It echoed throughout the cave. Nathaniel slowly calmed down, body relaxing.

That was a perk of being a siren.

Well, normally the relaxation part was followed up by Marc eating the human, but this guy already looked like he’d been through a lot.

“You good?”

He nodded, “U-Uh, you have a tail?”

Marc nodded, “All sirens do. I thought this was taught?”

“I… thought sirens were myths.”

Marc pouted, “Rude.”

“Sorry?”

“Just teasing,” He swung his tail behind him, “What’s your name?”

“Um, Nathaniel.”

“Marc,” He leaned on his arms, “Why don’t you tell me how you got here?”

\---

Lila wondered why all the staff were panicking. 

A red haired male bumped into her, “I’m sorry, have you seen my son? Red hair, covers his left eye?”

“Nathaniel?” She asked, “Haven’t seen him.”

The man looked more worried, running his fingers through his hair, “God, I never should’ve brought him onto this ship.”

One staff member ran up to him, “Sir, shall we check the security cameras?”

Lila made a small noise of confusion, “They’re just letting you do that?”

“I own this boat! Of course!”

_ Oh shit. _

After reviewing the footage, multiple staff members brought her to the center of the boat, where Nathaniel’s dad chewed her out loudly and said he was going to sue her when they got back to land. A search party was already out there, looking for the lost boy. Her classmates looked confused, but they quickly had the situation explained to them. All of them looked at her disgusted after that.

\---

Nathaniel calmed down from his latest laughing fit with Marc. He was having fun with him. 

But it had been a while.

“Can you get me back to the boat I fell from?”

Marc hummed, “Oh yeah definitely. How long can you hold your breath?”

“Uh, thirty seconds?”

“Good enough.” He sank down lower into the water, “Hold onto my shoulders and don’t let go.” Nathaniel climbed down next to him, following the instructions. Marc took off, swimming through the water like a bullet. He reached the surface quickly, Nathaniel taking a deep breath once breaching it.

Marc pointed towards a nearby yacht, “Is that it?” Nathaniel nodded into the crook of his shoulder. He swam up to it.

A staff member noticed immediately, helping Nathaniel get onto the deck. He reached out to help Marc as well, but the boy shied away from the physical contact.

Marc grabbed Nathaniel’s wrist, “Wait here.” He quickly dove down into the water.

“Would you like me to get your dad?”

“Yes, please.” With that, the staff member scurried away.

Both returned at the same time, with the extra addition of Nathaniel’s dad and his classmates.

His dad leaned down and wrapped him in a hug, “Are you okay? I was so worried.”

Nathaniel hugged back, “I think I got off relatively fine for falling off a boat in the middle of the ocean.”

Marc huffed, “You didn’t fall off.” He pointed at Lila, “You’re the one who pushed him off.” He wrinkled his nose, “God, your hair really does look like sausages. I thought Nathaniel was exaggerating.” Lila made a small noise of offense.

Nathaniel’s dad glared at her, “I can guarantee you’ll be getting served once reaching land again.” He turned to Marc, “Did you help my son?” Marc nodded. “Thank you. Would you like to come onto the boat?”

Marc shook his head, “I can’t.” He went up to where Nathaniel was seated on the edge of the boat, placing a conch shell on his lap. Marc winked, “Call that when you’re feeling lonely.” With that, he left, flicking his tail high in the air before diving back underwater.

\---

It had been a couple months since that party. Lila had been put in juvenile and the class started taking notice of him more. That was nice. He didn’t feel as invisible.

He sat on the beach, fiddling with the conch shell in his lap.

_ Call when I’m feeling lonely, huh? _

Nathaniel raised it up to his mouth, blowing into the shell. A sound resonated. He sat there, waiting for something to happen.

A head of black hair appeared near a rock. It raised higher as the person it belonged to climbed onto the object. Blue eyes met green ones.

Marc smiled.

“Hey there, pretty stranger.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's like 4 am rn :)))


	25. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "They both get akumatized again and together, Evillustrator and Reverser get revenge on whoever upset them pretty quickly. So with nothing else to do, they end up kissing or cuddling or whatever, and Alix catches them right before the heroes arrive. Then the next day, she playfully teases Marc and Nath about it." -caelestislux

Lila snuck into the art room one day to rip Marinette’s sketchbook into pieces. She messed up, and tore up Nathaniel’s sketchbook instead. 

With Nathaniel and Marc holding onto the same object, both were akumatized at once.

And so began the return of Evilustrator and Reverser.

\---

Lila was running away in the courtyard when she was picked up by a white and black person. 

She screamed as she was tossed to the other purple person. Evillustrator drew a rope around her and dangled her off the roof, tying the end to the railing so she couldn’t go anywhere.

Reverser got the attention of everyone in the school, “Ah, Lila Rossi. A saint who can do no wrong. Or so you think. Let’s see what happens.” He formed a paper airplane in his hand, “From telling lies to telling truths! Reversion!”

Lila shrieked as the airplane hit her. 

Evillustrator waved down Alya to start recording as Reverser smirked down at the hanging Lila.

“Now, tell us all about your stories.”

Lila rolled her eyes, “All lies.” She froze, not talking.

“Aw, what was that?” He purred, kicking the rope to start swinging Lila.

With more nudging from the two akumas, she spilled everything, even her hatred of the Parisian superhero.

Butterfly masks flashed over the boys’ faces.

“ _ Now get the miraculous _ .”

“Why?” Evillustrator muttered.

_ “Because I’ll take away your powers otherwise!” _

“I mean, we already finished what we wanted to do,” Reverser kicked Lila’s rope yet again.

They stepped away from the roof’s edge as Hawkmoth sputtered. The two sat down against the wall. Evillustrator leaned his head on Reverser’s shoulder.

“How long do you bet till Ladybug and Chat Noir show up?”

“Five minutes.”

“Hah, that’s fair.” Reverser placed a kiss on Evillustrator’s forehead. At that point in time, Alix shoved open the door to the roof, leading Ladybug and Chat Noir to the akumas. She laughed under her breath at the sight of the cuddling akumas before Ladybug destroyed Reverser’s glider, purifying the butterfly that fluttered out.

Marc and Nathaniel rubbed their heads as the black smoke died down.

“Oh, did we get akumatized?” Nathaniel sighed.

Alix snickered, “Nice to see your priority while akumatized is still your boyfriend.”

At that moment, the boys noticed they were cuddling. Nathaniel shot up, tackling Alix.

“SHUT UP I SWEAR TO GOD!”

She only cackled harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably could've done better on this sorry :,,)


	26. Waking Up with Cuddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "They fall asleep on the couch together while watching a movie, and the next day, Nath wakes up first and is just in awe of how lucky he is that they're together....possibly with a bit of angsty anxious thoughts mixed in?" - caelestislux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> t,,,technically this could be a sequel to chapter 5???

Nathaniel woke up, rubbing his eyes. He looked up to see Marc’s sleeping face.

He smiled softly, staring at the most beautiful person in the world. He was amazing. So nice, yet shy. Marc’s ideas were so creative and he was so humble about it. It was a miracle he didn’t hate him after he tore up his notebook. 

_ He does. He’s just pitying you. Why does he like you? You’re not good enough for him. _

Nathaniel shook his head, slapping himself quietly. Marc wouldn’t want him thinking like that. He glanced up again at the boy. His eyes trailed over the long eyelashes and his lips. With a quick lean forward, Nathaniel pressed a kiss to those very same lips. 

Marc’s eyes fluttered open. Nathaniel smiled at how cute it was.

Green eyes stared at the redhead, “What’re you staring at?”

“Pretty boy.”

Marc chuckled, “You look like you were thinking about something.”

Nathaniel pressed more kisses to Marc’s face, “Just thinking about how I’m dating the most amazing person in the world.” 

The recipient giggled, holding Nathaniel, “I think that honor goes to me.”

Nathaniel pouted, “It’s my honor and I’ll fight you on that.”

Marc smirked, “We both know I would win.”

More pouting from the redhead, “Just because it’s true doesn’t mean you need to say it.”

Marc simply laughed again.

Nathaniel leaned forward to bring Marc into yet another kiss, “I love you.”

Marc pressed his forehead to his boyfriend’s, “I love you too.”

They’d deny the fact they spent thirty more minutes cuddling before getting up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short yet again :,,,)


	27. A Ghastly Situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "possibly some sort of monster AU? I know you've done a vampire one before, so maybe a ghost one or something?" - caelestislux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk how you already somehow knew I had a ghost AU up my sleeves but here it is
> 
> (Trigger Warnings in end notes)

Marc sighed as he cleaned out the attic from his new house. 

_ Why do I even have to clean this up? _

He stood up, finally finished with his task. As he did, Marc bumped into a bookshelf that dropped a box of books. He slumped as he heard it hit the floor.

_ Great, more cleaning… _

Marc knelt down to pick up one of the fallen books. Upon reading the title, he learned it was a book that discussed methods of interacting with the supernatural.

Why not? He was pretty bored after all. There wasn’t much to do in this town.

\---

Marc sat in a park, after following the instructions in the book. It said that something would happen after he passed a place where a person had died within the past twenty years. Nothing happened at his house, so he was here now.

As he sat beneath a tree overlooking a river, he heard a short scream and a thump. Marc stood up and swiveled around to see a red haired boy (with blood stains on his shirt? Yikes) rubbing his head, on his knees. 

_ Holy shit, it worked. _

The boy looked up, “U-Uh.”

Marc waved, “Hi, I’m Marc Anciel, and I think you’re a ghost?”

He blinked, “W-What?”

After a quick explanation of the book and what Marc did, the boy pursed his lips. “Huh. Well then.” He stood up, “I’m Nathaniel Kurtzberg.”

“How did you die here?” Marc asked, tilting his head.

Nathaniel held his arm in his hand, looking around the park, “I...don’t remember. I remember walking here but I don’t know why.”

Marc bit his lip, “Do you want me to help?” Nathaniel smiled and nodded.

\---

Researching on his computer at home, Marc found a decade old news article talking about Nathaniel’s death. No culprit was ever found. Going a bit further, he learnt Nathaniel’s body was discovered in the park. He was stabbed six times in his torso. A knife was discovered in the river. Of course, no incriminating fingerprints were found anywhere near the scene.

He stayed up late that night, researching any and all leads the police had on the case. Nathaniel simply sat there, next to him, watching.

After a couple sleepless nights of this, Marc learned… absolutely nothing to help solve who killed him.

But he did find Nathaniel’s social media from when he was alive.

One of his best friends (judging from all the photos together. Although, there was a strange cutoff in his social media a couple months before his death where the pictures turned from pictures with friends to just pictures of his artwork.) was a girl named Alix Kubdel. More scouring through the web resulting in him finding where she worked. A gym around ten minutes away from his house. She taught skating lessons.

He went to bed satisfied that night. 

\---

“Are you Alix Kubdel?”

Alix turned to the black haired teenager asking her the question.

“Yeah, you want a lesson?” 

The boy brought out a piece of paper. Her breath hitched as she saw the article talking about Nathaniel’s death.

“Um, no, actually. I’m Marc Anciel and I’m trying to research Nathaniel Kurtzberg’s death.”

“Nathaniel Kurtzberg? Haven't that name in a while.” She asked, hiding her shock, “Why? And why are you asking me?”

The boy stammered over his words, “Well, I-I’m doing it for a-a summer project since there’s not much to do in this town? And it was a cold case and never solved so I want to find the killer. A-And he had a lot of pictures with you on h-his social media!”

She looked at her schedule, before grabbing a paper and writing her address on it. Alix handed the paper to Marc, “I’m busy today, but come to my house tomorrow. We can talk about it then.”

Marc nodded, smiling up at her. “I’m sure Nathaniel would be proud of where you are.”

Marc turned around and left, never seeing Alix’s sorrowful expression. He turned to the floating Nathaniel next to him, “We’re one step closer!”

Nathaniel only made a slight noise of acknowledgement, staring back sadly at Alix.

\---

Alix poured Marc a glass of water, “What did you want to ask?”

“Do you know anyone who might’ve wanted to kill Nathaniel?” 

Alix sighed, “Let me tell you a story. There was this girl named Lila Rossi, trying to get into his pants. He didn’t want that so Lila spread rumors. Rumors that he was pressuring her into a relationship. That led to him being intensely bullied. Those bullies… included me. But anyways, any of them had a motive because we only found out about Lila  _ after  _ he died.”

Marc bit his lip, “Do you think any of them would’ve had the courage to hunt him and down and stab him?”

Alix shook her head, “We were dumb teenagers. We might’ve been bullies but no one wanted to pass the threshold of murder.”

Marc hummed, “Thanks for talking to me about this. I know this was probably hard for you.”

Alix’s expression dropped, “I wish I could’ve told him how important he was before he was gone. Teenage me was so dumb. Why did I bully him? He was like a brother to me.”

Nathaniel, from his spot next to Marc, made a deeply pained noise, “Alix…”

Marc’s eyes softened, “I’m sure he’d forgive you if he was still alive.”

“I doubt it.”

\---

Marc sat in the park, pondering over the details of the case so far. He glanced over to Nathaniel. As he looked at the ghost, something clicked in his mind.

“I know who the culprit is.”

Nathaniel perked up, surprised, “You do?”

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

“...Me?”

“I’m...guessing you stabbed yourself and that’s why there were no recent fingerprints on the knife besides yours,” Marc murmured, “You had a motive for it too. I’m guessing none of the kids at your school were brave enough to murder you for breaking someone’s heart.”

Nathaniel looked at him, before smiling and looking away, “Huh, so you did end up finding out.”

“I thought you couldn’t remember your killer?”

The ghost shrugged, “I remembered halfway through your late night investigations.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I overheard your parents saying something about how you looked so much happier nowadays. I didn’t want to take that away, even if that happiness did come from investigating a cold case.”

Marc made a small noise, “Nathaniel…”

He smiled, “It’s fine, isn’t it? You’ve solved the murder.” Nathaniel looked out over the river again, “Even remembering it, I think now is the first moment I’m really accepting it. I just kept telling myself those memories were false, you know? That you would find the real killer, then I could finally be at peace.” He shook his head, “Pretty dumb, now that I think about it.” 

Nathaniel stood up, “I’ll probably be moving on soon.” He turned to Marc, smiling, “I’ll see you on the other side.”

And with that, he was gone.

Marc glanced down at the book that started this all in his hands.

He smiled, “I’ll see you there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More detective!Marc then Nathmarc and I only realized that around the ending whoops-
> 
> (TW: Suicide)


	28. Love In A Coffee Shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Can I make a request? One of the boys working as a barista ;)" - Infinitely_Zero
> 
> "Oooh? Open? What about coffee adventures? I’d love to see your interpretation of how they’d react with coffee 🤣🤣🤣 (I may or may not be obsessed with coffee ☕️)  
> (Literally just copy/pasted because I’m lazy, but still, coffee ☕️)  
> Have a nice day/night! 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃" - Ima_reader_not_a_writer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coffee shop au coffee shop au coffee shop au-

Marc groaned as his cousin dragged him to a shop on the corner of the street. “Why are we here again?”

Marinette smiled, “The coffee’s really good!”

Marc pondered over that statement. He never really tried coffee. He never needed it to stay awake so he just didn’t.

He wondered what it would taste like.

\---

The cute redhead behind the counter smiled at Marc, “Here’s your black coffee, Marc!”

Marc smiled back, taking the cup of coffee, “Thank you.” He took a sip as the barista continued.

“If you enjoy it, feel free to come back!”

Marc nodded, feeling the first drop of coffee hit his tongue. He immediately had to stop himself from spitting it out.

_ What the hell? It’s so bitter! _

He glanced back up to the hopeful barista. 

Shit, he was really cute though.

Marc glanced down at the name tag, then back up.

“Guess you’ll be seeing me here again, Nathaniel.”

He waved, sitting down next to Marinette. 

She perked up, “You like it?”

He laughed, “Definitely not. But he’s cute and I don’t want to seem like a stalker so guess I’m ordering shit I’ll never drink.”

\---

That was their routine for the next couple of months.

Marc would walk in in the afternoon, order a single black coffee, sit down, open up his laptop and write, and leave, all without taking a sip from the coffee he bought.

While ordering, Nathaniel and Marc exchanged friendly banter and jokes.

Marc was still trying to muster up the courage to ask him for his number at least and a date at most.

One day, Nathaniel broke this routine.

He walked up to Marc’s usual table, “How’s the coffee?”

Marc looked up from his writing, confused, “Um, good like always!”

Nathaniel smiled, laughing, “You don’t even drink the coffee.”

Marc sputtered, “What?”

“You never drink it while you’re here. It just sits next to you til you leave. I bet you just throw it out once you leave.”

Marc blushed, tripping over his words, embarrassed at being caught.

“I-Um, Well…” Marc sighed, “It’s really bitter and I hate it. It doesn’t even  _ do  _ anything for me! I can stay up all night without coffee! Does it do anything for anyone?!”

The barista laughed, “I literally could not  _ live  _ without the stuff. It’s the only thing keeping me awake at this point.” Nathaniel took a moment to go over Marc’s statement and blinked, “Wait, you know you can add stuff to the coffee to make it sweeter, right?”

Marc paused, “No?”

Nathaniel stared at him a moment before starting to kneel over in laughter.

“What? Hey, don’t laugh at me!” Marc pouted watching the other. Nathaniel giggled, standing back up.

“Sorry, it’s just, that’s so cute you didn’t know that.”

Marc pouted more. Nathaniel smiled.

“Wait one sec.”

The redhead returned to behind the counter, soon returning with a coffee cup.

Nathaniel handed it to Marc, “It’s on me.” He winked at the writer before returning to his job.

Marc glanced down at the lid. Nathaniel’s phone number was scribbled on it with a small message saying “Call me!~” with a heart next to it.

His cheeks heated up, staying like that, even as he saved the number to his phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's more of the first prompt than the second (cause I wanna try to burn through these requests to work on other stuff and while you may be obsessed with coffee I have never tried it) sorry bout that :,,)
> 
> More details to make up for that  
> Marc: Coffee does virtually nothing for him. If drunken too much, it increases his anxiety and insomnia  
> Nathaniel: This hoe livesssss off this shit. Will literally collapse on a bad day if he doesn't have coffee


	29. A Dreamy Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A soulmate AU where, after the first time you touch your soulmate, you start to share dreams with them. Not long after Evillustrator, the whole school evacuates due to an akuma and Marc and Nathaniel bump into each other. Nath doesn't remember that encounter (his mind was elsewhere I guess), but Marc does and basically develops an instant crush on Nath. They start sharing dreams but neither of them realize that's what it is. Marc thinks he's just dreaming about his crush. Nathaniel ends up falling for the boy in his dreams (so no Ladybug crush), causing him to start to suspect that there's something more to them. They officially meet the same way they do in canon, but Nath freezes but when Marc flees, Nath chases him out of the room instead of/with Marinette and is the one to get a hold of Marc's journal and is the one to eventually return it to him." - Mnoeln

Nathaniel frowned, looking at his phone, walking down the street from the hotel he was cured in. (And Ladybug and Chat Noir just left him there?! Rude) Nothing. No new messages at all.

He was allowed to be upset at that, right? That none of his friends wished him a happy birthday at all while he was akumatized.

Nathaniel shook his head free of the thoughts. He didn't want to get akumatized again so soon after he was cured.

Lost in his thoughts, he bumped into someone. Nathaniel jolted back from the other person, quickly stuttering out an apology.

He muttered to himself angrily as he scurried away, "Damn it, Nathaniel, get yourself together."

Marc watched the cute boy run away.

"Nathaniel, huh?"

It'd be funny if that was his soulmate and they started sharing dreams, as per the rules of the universe.

Marc laughed at the thought. Yeah, right, what were the chances of that?

\---

Nathaniel sat in a meadow among the colorful flowers. A person was sitting next to him.

The boy turned to the other, "Who are you?"

"Marc."

"Oh. I'm Nathaniel."

Marc smiled, "I know."

Nathaniel was confused, but decided to go along with it. He turned back to look over the field. Marc reached down and started picking up flowers. 

"What're you doing?"

Marc didn't respond, focusing on his task. Once finished, he let out a small cheer, raising a flower crown in his hands. Nathaniel clapped politely.

Marc turned, placing it on Nathaniel's forehead, making him go silent. The redhead started to blush at the intimate gesture.

Marc giggled, brushing his bangs back. "I think you look better with both your eyes showing!"

Nathaniel felt his cheeks heat up even more.

\---

Two separate boys jolted awake in their beds.

Nathaniel was still blushing, holding a hand to his heated cheeks. Wait, why was he blushing over a boy?! Didn't he like girls? 

Confused, the boy went to the internet to research his sexuality.

In another house, Marc was screaming into a pillow.

"You are _not_ crushing over a boy you bumped into!"

But he knew he was.

\---

They met in the dream meadow every night. Each interaction increased their relationship even more. Nathaniel quickly gained a crush on what he perceived as a dream boy (His favorite moment was when he taught Nathaniel how to make a flower crown) while Marc's grew deeper.

Nathaniel wondered why Marc always showed up without fail. Did he accidentally bump into his soulmate and not realize it? 

Eventually one day, Marinette tried to get Marc to meet his crush face to face.

That led to where they were now, staring at each other in the park.

Nathaniel recognized him as the boy from his dreams, "Marc?"

Marc thought he had just been dreaming about his crush the entire time, "H-How do you know my name?"

As Nathaniel walked closer, Marc squeaked, standing up and scrambling away.

"Hey, wait!" 

Marc didn't follow the command, instead running until he reached the corner of the park, curling up into a ball.

"I can't do this, I can't do this, Marinette why?!" He whimpered.

Nathaniel quickly caught up to the boy, noticing how panicked he was. His eyes landed on some flowers.

He scooped them up, forming them into a crown just as Marc had shown him. Nathaniel kneeled down next to the brunette, placing it on his head.

Marc felt the slight pressure. It helped ground him a little bit. He slowly uncurled, taking the crown off his head.

"T-this is how _I_ make flower crowns."

Nathaniel smiled, "That's the way you taught me."

"I-I've never interacted with you before now though?"

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow, "Do you not remember your dreams?"

"Wait, that was actually you?! I thought I was just dreaming about my crush…"

The artist laughed, "Guess not. I don't remember when we bumped into each other, but apparently we did."

Marc smiled at the laughter, "You were walking out of the hotel the mayor owns."

Nathaniel frowned, "Ah."

"D-did I say something wrong?"

The artist shook his head, "It's nothing, don't worry about it." He stood up, extending his hand, "Well, let's go hang out in the real world instead of our dreams for once, hm?"

Marc smiled, before accepting the hand.

"Alright."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doesn't exactly follow the prompt but oh well :)))


	30. One (1) Sleepy Tomato

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm throwing my hat in here by requesting a fic where Nathaniel hasn't slept in like 3 whole days. Taking it upon himself as his duty as a Good Boyfriend, Marc lovingly and forcefully wraps his boyfriend up in a ton of blankets and gets him some hot chocolate and tries to get Nath to actually "Go To Sleep, please, you'll collapse at any second and I'm sort of scared of you accidentally falling down the stairs or something"." - kopycat_101

Marc was waiting on his bed for Nathaniel to come back from the kitchen. His sister was out for the weekend so they were gonna play video games together after Nathaniel got snacks.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash from downstairs. Marc immediately jumped off the bed, sprinting towards the source, "Nath?!"

Nathaniel stood in the middle of the living room, surrounded by bags of chips, blinking at the wall like he wasn't entirely there. He turned towards Marc, murmuring his name in confusion. Nathaniel looked down, making a small noise, before kneeling down to pick up the mess.

Marc rushed over, helping him. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm more tired than I thought apparently."

"When was the last time you slept?!" 

"Mm, three days ago?"

Marc blinked, standing up and dropping all the bags he had collected. Nathaniel looked up, confused.

"MarC?" 

His voice cracked as Marc suddenly picked up Nathaniel in a bridal position. He laid there in shock as Marc took him upstairs and placed him on the bed.

"Sleep."

"I'm fine, just get me some coffee!" Nathaniel retorted. Marc sighed, going back downstairs. 

He returned a few minutes later with a mug of brown liquid. While Marc was gone, Nathaniel had placed himself in a mini cocoon of blankets.

"Thanks, babe," Nathaniel cheered as he grabbed the second love of his life. After taking a single sip, he lowered the cup, "This isn't coffee."

Marc nodded, "It's hot chocolate. Because I want you to sleep."

Nathaniel pouted, "I told you I'm fine. I wanna play AI with you! You can't just leave me on the cliffhanger of Iris getting her eye torn out!"

Marc huffed, crawling onto the bed next to Nathaniel, "I can and I will." He brushed Nathaniel's bangs out of his face, "I'd rather wait to play another day than for you to collapse from exhaustion down the stairs or something."

Nathaniel sank down into the pile of blankets, "It's not _that_ bad."

"Yes, it is!" Marc took the empty mug from Nathaniel. (Wow, he drank fast.) "Now, sleep. For me?"

Nathaniel rolled his eyes, fondly, "Yeah, yeah, fine."

After placing the mug onto the bedside table, Marc placed a kiss onto his boyfriend's forehead, "Thank you, my muse." When he got no response, he leaned back. Nathaniel's eyes were already shut and the boy was sleeping peacefully.

Jeez, he really was sleep deprived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spreading my agenda of getting more people to play AI: The Somnium files
> 
> (Please do or at least watch a playthrough it's,,, so good,,, yet so underrated)


	31. Treat Yourself Taken Literally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ".....Somehow, Eviulstrator and Nathaniel exist separately and Evilustrator takes Nathaniel out on the MOST romantic date ever because "If no one will treat me right I'll just do it myself smh." Hmmm...this happens because Nath has a small fight with Marc perhaps, and despite one of the best dates he's ever had he keeps thinking "I wish Marc was here he would love this )8" and realized their fight was stupid. After Evillustrator is gone they both meet up and apologize"" - Sinnamon_Troll

Nathaniel fumed atop his apartment building. He had just gotten back from a fight with Marc.

_Why didn't he just tell me he was going to change a part of the story?! I didn't even get to know before I was drawing it! He's my boyfriend! Why...couldn't he tell me?_

~~It's because he doesn't trust you. He hates you. It's all been a pity show.~~

Nathaniel's thoughts were broken by a cackle from above him. He didn't even get a chance to look up before he was struck by a beam of light.

"Have fun dealing with the other side of yourself!" 

_Ugh, damn akuma._

_...Other side?_

With some sparkles in the air, Evillustrator stood in front of Nathaniel.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," He muttered.

Evillustrator shrugged, "Afraid not." He looked off into the distance, "I'm pretty sure Hawkmoth wants me to help him but he can't control me now. So I'm not helping."

"C-Control?"

"Yeah, he could send pain through my body."

Nathaniel paled. Could he do that to every akuma?

"It's chill. He can't do anything now." Evillustrator turned towards him, "You look upset. What's wrong?"

...Well, it was him, right?

Nathaniel crossed his arms, "Got into a fight with Marc."

"Who's Marc?" 

Right, he didn't know Marc back when he was akumatized.

"Boyfriend."

Evillustrator blinked, before shaking his head, "You know what, I'm probably going to be gone in an hour. I'm not even going to question my sexuality at this point."

Nathaniel couldn't cover his small snicker at the comment.

Evillustrator drew some things on his tablet. Soon, a lounge chair appeared with a side table next to it. On the side table was a laptop.

"Eh?"

"Hey, if you're upset at your boyfriend, let me treat you. On the house." Evillustrator gestured to the chair, "If no one treats me right, I'll do it myself."

Warily, Nathaniel settled himself on the conjured seat. The laptop flickered on, showing one of the shows he had been meaning to watch for a while.

With another quick sketch, a rose appeared in front of Nathaniel. He held it up.

_This is Marc's favorite flower._

Nathaniel smiled at the thought, "I wish Marc was here. He would've loved this." His smile fell at the reminder of the thought. 

…Was a scene change really more important to him than his boyfriend?

"I'm an idiot." He groaned.

Evillustrator looked towards the distance, hearing the fight coming to a end. He turned towards Nathaniel.

"I'm going to give you the advice of any relationship counselor ever and tell you to talk to each other." 

With a swarm of ladybugs, Evillustrator was gone. Along with the chair Nathaniel was laying on.

He grunted as he hit the rooftop, but didn't falter in his task of pulling out his phone and sending a text to Marc.

 **Bicon** : Hey i know its like 9 pm but you free rn?

 **KatyPerry'sHotNCold,line16** : yeah I'm in the park by Mari's house 

**Bicon** : can you stay there? I'll come to you

 **KatyPerry'sHotNCold,line16** : got it

\---

Nathaniel sat by Marc on the fountain's edge.

"Why'd you want to meet?"

Nathaniel sighed, "I'm sorry for blowing up at you earlier for changing the scene." Marc looked shocked for a split second. "It's still a thought in the back of my mind you hate me and only want my art. It's an explanation, but not an excuse."

Marc fidgeted with his hands, "It's my fault too."

_It's really not.._

"I should've told you. Guess I'm still scared of rejection, huh. I promise I'll tell you next time."

Nathaniel bit his lip, "I want you to be comfortable around me. If that means waiting for you to trust me completely, I'll wait." He held Marc's hand in his own, "Don't force yourself to show me everything."

Marc blushed, "O-Okay!" 

Nathaniel stood up, smiling softly, "U-Um, I should probably go home and eat dinner."

"You haven't eaten yet?! What have you been doing?"

"Angsting on the roof like a young adult novel protagonist."

Marc laughed. "Yeah, I'll see you later then?"

Nathaniel nodded, before placing a kiss on Marc's forehead and sprinting away. He chuckled at the squeak he heard come from the boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit for the fight Nath and Marc had goes to christallized on the discord server! Thank you!


	32. Moronsexual Marc

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ".....Morosexual Marc reveals that it was not Nathaniel's art that drew his attention to the red head. Rather, he overheard a conversation between Alix and Nathaniel one day where Nathaniel asked Alix what kind of animal the "Pink Panther" (from the old cartoons) is. It was love at first sight, Marc had never heard something so dumb in his life." - Sinnamon_Troll

Nathaniel laid in his bed, leaning his head on Marc's chest. 

"Why were you attracted to me in the first place?" He shook his head, "Nevermind, it was my art, right?"

Marc looked at the side, nervously, "Um. Not exactly."

\---

Marc walked towards the stairs after leaving classroom. As he passed by the art room, he heard a peculiar conversation.

"Hey, Alix, you know the Pink Panther? What animal was he?"

Marc stopped dead in his tracks, turning towards the room.

A girl spray painting the wall paused, "Nathaniel, go over that statement again."

A boy sitting at a nearby table stopped for a few seconds before slamming his head into the table, groaning.

The girl (Alix?) snickered. Marc laughed quietly along with her. The boy (Nathaniel?) threw a piece of crumpled up paper at her, "Shut up! Don't make fun of me!" The paper bounced off Alix and landed by Marc's feet.

"Kinda hard when you make it so easy!" Alix teased back. Marc kneeled down to pick up the paper, walking away from the two friends.

He unfolded it, looking at the drawing, "Oh, wow." It was an understatement to say it was amazing. And it was a failure according to the artist? What did pieces he thought was good look like?

Marc hummed, "Nathaniel, huh?"

That might’ve been the dumbest thing he had ever heard. He had to at least know him, at most marry the guy. It was a bonus he was cute and a good artist.

\---

Marc threw his arms over his head, "It was so dumb, I couldn't help but falling. You know, moronsexual agenda."

Nathaniel hit him with a pillow, face red from embarrassment, "Shut up, I'm actually going to break up with you."

"Nooooooo!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short sorry bout that :,,)
> 
> At just like that, I've knocked out all the requests I had saved up! Time to work on my other fics :D


	33. TomatoFox (But Only For Plot)

Lila sulked in her seat. Her lies hadn’t worked at this school. Everyone immediately called her out using the internet. The artist kid (Nathaniel?) sat down next to her.

She opened her mouth, about to spin another lie about how she could introduce him to a famous artist before he glared at her. 

“Lila, you’re a liar. We know this already.” He sighed, “You know you can tell the truth and you won’t get dropped, right? We’re not that mean.”

She huffed, sinking down into her seat, ignoring him.

He sighed.

It was going to be a while before anyone warmed to her or vice versa, huh?

\---

Lila and Nathaniel often got paired up for group projects with each other since they were seatmates.

Nathaniel didn’t really think the lies were that bad. So far, she had only been doing it for attention. Luckily, Alya caught it before posting it on her blog. That would’ve been a disaster. 

No one really liked talking to Lila, but since they were so often paired up, he didn’t really have a choice.

Honestly, once she stopped lying, she wasn’t that bad. He even offered for her to go to the drama club to make use of her acting skills. Lila took his advice and thrived there.

They became friends after that. She stopped lying as often.

Overall, it was a pretty neat arrangement.

\---

“Did you want to talk to me about something?” Nathaniel asked near the back of the school, tilting his head. “I kinda want to get to Marc. You know, it’s after school and all that-”

Lila hummed, rocking back and forth on her feet, “Will you go on a date with me this Saturday?”

Nathaniel looked shocked, but it wasn’t a rejection and Lila felt her hope soar!

“...Did I never tell you I have a boyfriend?”

And just like that, it crashed into the ground.

“W-What?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “I-I’m sorry. I guess it never came up in conversation that Marc and I are dating.” Nathaniel hummed nervously, moving to walk around her.

She looked helplessly as he walked away. Internally, Lila scowled. If he only had her left, maybe he would date her. If only there was some way she could impersonate him and destroy his relationships or something.

Lila never noticed as a black butterfly entered her earring.

“ _Chameleon_.”

\---

Nathaniel paused as Lila ran up to him, calling out his name.

“Please, give me a chance!”

“I can’t-” His words were interrupted by Lila grabbing his face and placing a kiss to his lips. He shoved her away. “What?” Nathaniel stumbled, before falling to the floor unconscious.

Chameleon, now in the form of Nathaniel, giggled, “Can’t wait to do that even more later!”

She grabbed Nathaniel’s body and dragged it to the side of the school again. 

_Jeez, he’s a stick._

\---

Marc looked up as Nathaniel took a seat next to him on the staircase.

“Hey!” 

His boyfriend looked up, smiling, “Hi, Marc.”

“How was class?”

He shrugged, “Good. Especially since you weren’t in it.”

...What?

Nathaniel rolled his eyes, “You whine all the damn time. So annoying. I really only date you for your writing.” As he brushed his bangs back, Marc noticed something about him.

“So, uh, Not-Nathaniel, where’s my boyfriend?”

Not-Nathaniel jolted, turning back, “What do you mean Not-Nathaniel?”

Marc raised an eyebrow, “You’re not him. Therefore, the nickname. Now where is he?”

“Why do you think that?” Not-Nathaniel snarled, “Idiot. Of course you would think that once I start speaking my mind for once.”

Marc pointed at his left ear, specifically the earring in it. “Unless Nathaniel somehow found a way to pierce his ears during class, or the fifteen minutes it took for you to show up, I doubt you’re him.”

The other person stared at him shocked for a few seconds before standing up and bolting.

“Wh- Hey, get back here!” Marc shouted, following whoever was pretending to be his boyfriend. He pushed past a confused Marinette in his haste.

She looked down at her purse, asking Tikki a silent question, before sneaking behind him.

\---

Chameleon cursed as she ran back to where she left her love. Once there, she knelt down, staring at the boy, breathing heavily.

Unfortunately, Marc came running around the corner, pausing once he saw the two.

“What did you do to him?!”

Chameleon smirked, “Nothing much. Just a quick kiss!”

If she couldn’t ruin Nathaniel’s relationships without his knowledge, she would just make _him_ think that his friends hated him.

She rushed towards Marc, hands outstretched, “Now why don’t you let me kiss you?” Marc dodged. He tumbled onto the ground.

_So whoever they are, their powers have to do with kissing. Just have to make sure I’m not touched._

Chameleon twisted her body around, lunging towards the fallen boy. Marc rolled away from the assault.

_Since this is such a subtle akuma, no one’s gonna realize it._

_That means Ladybug and Chat Noir aren’t showing up anytime soon._

_Does that mean I have to deal with this on my own?_

“What do your powers even do?!” Marc screeched in an attempt to coax out an answer. It wasn’t a very good attempt, but it was an attempt. Maybe playing up to their selfishness could work? “They seem really cool! I’d love to learn more. Maybe even include it in an issue.” (A lie obviously, but they didn’t need to know that.)

Luckily, the akuma was very egocentric. Marc didn’t like the sight of his boyfriend acting so cocky, sticking his nose up in the arm, arms crossed over his chest, smirk stretched eye to eye. It just wasn't Nathaniel.

“If I kiss you, I can transform into you!” They bragged.

Marc wondered if that power transferred to objects.

“Now, come here!” They puckered their lips, leaning into Marc’s personal bubble. (Rude.)

He quickly raised his arm, blocking the kiss, praying to whatever God was out there that his prediction was right. The akuma smirked triumphantly as their lips met Marc’s sleeve, thinking they had won.

Marc smiled sweetly, “You kissed my hoodie, not me.”

The akuma tilted their body back, hand rushing to cover their mouth. The effect had already happened and soon there were two red hoodies.

Marc heard groaning come from the direction of Nathaniel’s body, “Nath!” He stood up, running over, kneeling down next to him.

Nathaniel rolled his head onto Marc’s lap, “Ugh, what happened?”

“Um, akuma.” He turned his head back to the hoodie. Marc softly moved Nathaniel off his lap, much to his dismay, and walked over to the hoodie.

_If the earring was on Nathaniel, it should be here too, right?_

He shook the hoodie, hoping that the motion wouldn’t break the earring and release the akuma before Ladybug showed up. The small piece of jewelry fell out of the jacket, bouncing off the ground. Marc knelt down and picked it up, dropping the akuma-turned-hoodie in the process. 

He jolted back as Ladybug landed in front of him. She smiled, “That was a very effective take down.”

Marc blushed from the flattering words, “A-Ah, it wasn’t much!”

“It’s still appreciated.” She snapped the earring, capturing the akuma that fluttered out.

Lila soon appeared on the floor, groaning.

Nathaniel glided towards Marc, pulling him away by their intertwined hands.

“Eh?”

“I don’t want to deal with her right now.”

Marc stifled a laugh, “Oof.”

“I didn’t think she was that bad, but I was _wrong_ apparently,” Nathaniel stuck his tongue out in disgust, “She kissed me after I told her I was taken already.”

“I think that was because she was an akuma.”

“Just… I’ll talk about it with her later,” Nathaniel spun around, surprising Marc enough for Nathaniel to be able to grab his arms, “I just want to hang out with you right now.”

Marc blushed, hiding his face in his hood. Nathaniel chuckled, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

“Come on, let’s go get ice cream!”


	34. Marc Kidnaps Nath (Consensually)

A man dressed in rags and soot trembled in front of the king and queen’s throne. Nathaniel watched from his position next to his mom’s throne.

The man got onto his knees, kneeling down, “Please, your majesties. We need funding for the orphanage.”

“I don’t see why not,” Nathaniel said. He turned to their advisor, ready to consent to the request before his dad bellowed out a question.

“And what can you give us?” 

The man froze, “We protect the children of the villages down below with no parents.”

The queen huffed, “It sounds like it shouldn’t be our concern.”

Nathaniel jolted. He knew his parents were terrible, valuing money over most other things, but jeez. The boy bit his lip sadly as he watched the orphanage owner walk out, dejected.

\---

Nathaniel collapsed onto his bed, groaning.

Why did his parents even hold these “beg for our funding” meetings every day? They never even accepted any of the offers.

‘Probably just do it to laugh at the commoners,’ Nathaniel mused, getting increasingly madder at his parents. He pulled out a spellbook he stole from their personal wizard’s library, opening to the page he always used.

He smiled, kicking his legs happily as he remembered the first time he used it. 

\---

_ Nathaniel clutched the book close to his chest, ducking into his room. He shut the door behind him, sliding to the floor. _

_ “Please be right, please be right,” Nathaniel muttered, flipping through the book. He paused upon seeing the spell he wanted, lighting up. _

_ Teleportation Spell _

_ Teleport small objects following these instructions! _

_ He pulled out a letter he had saved for a while, reading the instructions. Nathaniel copied down the instructions onto the letter.  _

_ Instructions _

_1.)_ _ Draw this symbol on the object you are trying to teleport _

_2.) Think of the location where you are trying to teleport it_

_3.) Chant “piolth et obsetsire”_

_ Nathaniel breathed softly as he followed the instructions.  _

_ ‘I just… want this letter to reach a potential friend.’ _

_ With that thought and the chant leaving his lips, the letter vanished from his hand in a mess of sparkles that drifted to the floor before disappearing. _

_ It was a full day before he got a return letter. _

_ “Hi! I’m Marc! Lowkey surprised I got a random letter from the crown prince but it is what it is. If this is late, it’s because I was trying to figure out how the spell you sent worked! Anyways, you mentioned something about wanting a friend? I can be that friend! :). Hope you’ll send another return letter!” _

_ Nathaniel beamed at the note in hand. _

_ So the spell did work! _

\---

Nathaniel hummed happily, pulling out Marc’s last letter, writing a response.

Marc’s letter was completely normal (this one even included a drawing of Marc by the boy himself!), except for the last statement.

_ “For totally legal reasons, I didn’t ask this but if there was any possible way to sneak you out of your room past the guards, how would one do that?” _

Nathaniel chuckled, drawing a map and color coding each guard’s schedules and movement, including blind spots and hiding spots. Maybe Marc was just asking for curiosity, but if Nathaniel had a chance to get out of the hellhole called the palace, he’d take it.

He followed the usual instructions to send the letter off, stuffing the book and Marc’s letter with the rest of the stash of his letters under his bed.

With his last routine done for the day, he fell asleep.

\---

Nathaniel was woken up in the middle of the night by a figure shaking him awake.

  
“Hey, get up,” The brunette murmured. Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. He looked familiar.

An image of the drawing Marc sent flashed in his mind.

“Marc?”

Marc faltered, “Oh, I didn’t think you’d recognize me, uh. This is awkward.”

Nathaniel sat up, swinging his legs over his bed, “Why are you here?” He didn’t ask how, since Nathaniel  _ was _ the one who sent him the instructions to get in his room.

“Um, I was gonna kidnap you and hold you for ransom,” Marc fiddled with his hands in the moonlight. “The ransom being ‘make the kingdom a better place’, cause, uh, I’m one of the leaders of a revolution?” The boy stuttered over his words. Which like, fair.

Nathaniel stood up, “Okay.”

“W-What?”

Nathaniel grabbed onto Marc’s shoulders, pulling him closer, “Get me out of here, pretty boy.”

Marc’s face turned red, “P-Pretty boy?”

“Can I help in the revolution too?” Nathaniel asked, suddenly getting excited, “Oh, I know a ton of things about how my parents and their military work! I could sneak you guys into official buildings! It’ll be great.” He moved away, starting to rant more about how useful he could be.

Marc beamed, “Great!” He moved the two towards Nathaniel’s window, where he presumably entered from. He held out a hand towards the prince. “Shall we go?”

Nathaniel smiled, taking the hand.

One chapter ended, and another started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the "ancient language text" from the instructions  
> I literally just put "teleport this object" into a word scrambler website then tried to make pleasant sounding words out of the result


	35. Hades and Persephone AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "UN, sweet summer child of mine, can I request a Hades and Persephone AU with the boys?" - kopycat_101 (mom!!)

Nathaniel walked up to a brunette sitting in a field, making a flower crown.

The boy looked up, “Hello?”

Nathaniel jolted back, not thinking the boy would notice him, “Oh, sorry, just wanted to see what you were doing.” The boy showcased the crown in his hand.

“I was just making a flower crown. Here, you can have this one.” He stood up, placing the crown on Nathaniel’s head. It crumbled to dust as soon as Marc let go. A shocked noise came out of his mouth.

“Yeah, that’s about as much as I expected,” Nathaniel sighed, “Ruler of the underworld and all.”

“Oh, so does that mean you’re Nathaniel? I’ve heard a lot about you! I’m Marc!”

The two spent the next several hours having pleasant conversations.

Nathaniel stood up, “I should go back.” As he began walking away, Marc latched onto his arm.

“Take me with you! I’ve always wanted to see the underworld!”

Nathaniel paused, “I don’t think I can do that.”

Marc pouted, “Please?”

Nathaniel sighed, “Fine.”

Marinette’s scream echoed throughout the world when she saw her cousin entering the underworld with its ruler.

\---

Marinette crossed her arms, angrily ranting to Alix, “You two are basically siblings! Can’t you tell him to give Marc back?”

Alix rolled her eyes, “I’m basically his sister, not his mom. I can’t tell him to do anything.”

Marinette huffed, “Well, if that’s how it’s gonna go, I’m not going to help take care of the world!” She stormed out of Alix’s temple.

The pink haired girl tsked.

That wasn’t good, considering Marinette was linked to things reproducing.

\---

Nathaniel finished explaining the situation to Marc, “And that’s why we have to get you back to your cousin.”

Marc pouted, “You sure? I like being here.” With Nathaniel’s exasperated glance, he sighed, “Fine.”

On the way out of the home they had been sharing for the past six months, Marc noticed something on the table. He grabbed it, continuing to follow Nathaniel.

\---

Nathaniel gestured to Marc, facing Marinette, “Here he is. Now start taking care of the Earth again.”

  
Marinette nodded politely, before her face paled. Nathaniel turned around to see Marc holding a pomegranate, already starting to open the fruit.

“M-Marc, don’t eat the seeds!” Marinette pleaded, “If you do, you’ll be bonded to him!” The last word was spit out with venom as she pointed at Nathaniel.

Marc blinked, “Oh, really?” He popped six seeds in his mouth. The smile was deceptively innocent as he chewed and swallowed the food. “Guess I’m stuck with him!”

Nathaniel rubbed his face, “Wow.”

Marinette fumed, stomping over to Marc, grabbing his arm and yanking him with her. The girl stopped in front of Nathaniel, groaning, “I guess he has to be with you for six months of the year.” She huffed, walking away.

Marc blew him a kiss and a wink, “See you in six months, babe!” 

Nathaniel shook his head, blush dusted across his cheek.

Marc was going to be the death of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel: We can't do that-  
> Marc: Now  
> Nathaniel, suddenly a bottom: okay-
> 
> I have yet again be plagued with the "short oneshots" disease I apologize-


	36. Boy(s) Next Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Marc and Nath are neighbors but have never really talked. They only know each other as "that cut boy next door who probably doesn't know I exist". They accidentally lock themselves out of their houses on the same day and they decide to do something together until their family gets home. They find out they have a lot in common and end the day trading phone numbers." - Sinnamon_Troll

Marc stared out the window of his room, staring at the boy in the house next to his water plants on his windowsill. He sighed wishfully. He always thought the redhead was really cute, but it’s not like he would ever talk to him. His social anxiety would attest to this.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel started planning out a drawing in his head about the boy next door. He always sat next to the window while he wrote and Nathaniel took notice of how pretty the boy was. Of course he was going to make a drawing! It’s not every day you get a view of that beauty.

‘Oh well,’ Both boys thought, ‘It’s not like he’ll ever know I exist.’

\---

Nathaniel sat down on the curb, defeated. He had forgotten his keys inside the house when he left that morning for school and no one was home to let him in. A sigh escaped his lips before he noticed a boy ( _ The _ boy from next door, holy shit) sit down next to him.

“What’re you doing here?” He asked before he could stop himself.

The brunette shrugged sheepishly, “Locked myself outside.”

Nathaniel chuckled, “Same.” He turned to the mysterious boy. Might as well try to get his name now. “I’m Nathaniel. You?”

“Marc,” He smiled, answering Nathaniel’s question. Marc crossed his legs, pulling out something from his backpack.

Nathaniel perked up, “Oh, you read the comic too?”

“Aha, it’s a little more than just read.”

“Do you draw fanart like me?” Nathaniel pulled out his sketchbook, showcasing all his artworks.

Marc blinked, before bringing out a journal, “I, um, don’t exactly draw. I write.” Nathaniel beamed at the statement.

“Really? That’s cool! Hey, how about we exchange our journals and show each other our work?”

Marc smiled, “I’d like that.”

The two boys spent the next hour comparing and complimenting each other’s work, and gushing about their shared interest.

Nathaniel calmed down from one of many laughing fits he had that afternoon, “Hey, you know, since we’re a writer and artist, we could technically make a comic.”

Marc blushed a tad bit, “I mean, I wouldn’t mind.”

“O-Oh, really?”

“Yeah!” Marc’s voice cracked slightly. The boys took a quick break from the conversation to look away blushing before turning back to one another.

“I’d like that,” Nathaniel continued the conversation. They both paused as they saw a car coming down the street. “Oh, that’s my family.” Nathaniel looked back at Marc before he tore out a small piece of paper from the back of his sketchbook. He scribbled down something as the car pulled into Nathaniel's driveway. The artist placed it into Marc’s hand, miming a call me motion next to his ear, before dashing towards the car.

Marc glanced down seeing a number on the paper. He smiled, pulling out his phone to save it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more short oneshots :,)


	37. Shaming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hello! I'm thirsty for Angst and Comfort...How about someone (you decided) finds out about Nathaniel suffers from Bipolar and (you can also decide whether intentionally or unintentionally) making comments which makes Nathaniel feel really ashamed of himself (possably some tears) with Marc coming in to safe the day?" - TickyMikky

Nathaniel and Marc passed by Chloe’s lunch table, idly talking about their comic. Chloe snickered, sticking out her foot. The artist tripped over the limb, crashing into the floor and the contents of his bag spilling out across the floor. Alix leaped up from her table, walking over to help the boys pick up the stuff.

Chloe’s vision latched onto a pill bottle in Alix’s hand. She snatched it out of the skater’s grasp, holding it up. “What even is this? Drugs?” Alix took it back, tossing it to Nathaniel.

The artist shoved in back in his bag, looking away, “It’s nothing big. Just mood stabilizers.”

“Mood stabilizers?” Chloe sneered.

“Mood stabilizers are commonly used to treat bipolar disorder.” Markov chirped from a nearby table.

Chloe cackled, “Why not go attack everyone like people with bipolar do?”

“That’s not how bipolar disorder works,” Nathaniel tried to interject, sinking lower into himself.

“I still find it funny how you can’t even be a normal person without those,” She snickered, closing her eyes in her fit of laughter.

Nathaniel looked away, acutely aware of how everyone in the lunchroom was staring. He rubbed some unshed tears out of his eyes.

“How fucking low can you drop?”

Chloe opened an eye, “Excuse me?” 

Marc walked over to the blonde and slapped her, much to the shock of everyone watching. There were more than a few gasps. After all, Marc was one of the shyest guys in the school. “Why are you bullying him over something he has no control over?” Marc snapped, “That’s like bullying you for being blonde or being LGBT!” 

“You have no right to discredit the struggles he’s been through,” He continued, “You’re still an asshole after everything with the bee miraculous, although I’m not surprised about that fact.”

Marc gave Chloe one last disgusted glare before turning to Nathaniel, tilting his head to the exit.

Nathaniel nodded, the two walking away, leaving the lunchroom in shock.

The artist reached up again to rub more tears away, “She’s right though. I’m not normal.”

Marc rolled his eyes, “Normal is boring.” He placed a hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder, grinning, “I like you just the way you are, bipolar and all.”

Nathaniel smiled, leaning onto Marc, “Thank you.”

“No need. I’d do it all over again for you.”

He shook his head fondly, “You’re so sappy.”

“Wh- Hey!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HHH I LOVED THIS PROMPT SO MUCH THANK YOU I FEEL LIKE I COULD'VE DONE MORE THO :'''')


	38. Interrupted Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How about that idea we had the other day where Nathaniel (as Mightillstrator) gets kidnapped and Marc (who doesn't have powers) rescues him because the kidnappers interrupted their date night? 💜" - Mnoeln

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more short oneshots :,,,)

Mightyllustrator sighed as he sat tied up to a chair. It’s not like he could draw something on his tablet with his hands tied apart from each other.

‘This is the third time this month,’ He mulled. He wasn’t worried though. After all, it was  _ that _ day again.

“Mightyllustrator,” The villain paused, “That’s such a stupid name. Why did you choose that?”

“Look, I started this superhero stuff when I was like sixteen,” He rolled his eyes, “Forgive my teen self. It’s been five years of using that name. I can’t exactly change it.”

“Anyways, Mighty.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“ _ Anyways _ .” The villain spun around, “We’ll kill you, and then the city will be overrun with criminals!”

“That’s neat and all, but you forgot one thing.”

“Oh? And what is that?”

“It’s date night.”

The villain paled, “O..Oh no.”

Date night had become a night infamous to the villain community. You couldn’t do anything on those nights or something  _ bad _ would happen to you. It was never known what the bad thing was, but everyone knew it was  _ something _ .

The villain and his henchmen flinched as the entrance to their base slammed open. A brunette boy walked in, swinging a knife in hand.

“You caught me in the middle of making dinner,” He said, “Good thing I thought to bring along this knife, huh?”

Mightyllustrator watched as Marc took down all of them. His boyfriend walked over to him, untying the rope binding him to the chair. “You know, since you can never free yourself from these, I can only assume you have a bondage kink and this is your way of telling me.”

Mightyllustrator choked on his spit, standing up, “Shut up.”

Marc stuck out his tongue, teasingly. “Can you draw me new boots? I can’t exactly go out on the street with bloody footsteps.”

The hero sighed, complying to the request. “Alright, now spare me my pride and let me carry you out pretending you were the one kidnapped like every other time.”

“No.”

“What?”

Marc huffed, crossing his arms, “They keep doing this. I have to make a point!” He swept Mightyllustrator off his feet, beginning to walk out of the villains’ base. 

“W-Wait, Marc!” He protested as Marc waved down a news helicopter.

“Hey, are you recording?! Great!” Marc shouted, “Hey villains! Stop kidnapping my boyfriend on date night! I want to either get railed or rail him! Alright? Thanks!” He continued walking without a care in the world as Mightyllustator slowly died in his arms from embarrassment.

Villains didn’t touch either of the two after 6 pm ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: In the og conversation we had about this in the discord server, the entire thing was part of the comic (In a world where Reverser was denied by the producers because one self insert hero is enough). Marc proceeds to stand up against a bully for Nathaniel in the real world, and all the fans start freaking out going "oh my god, it's happening!"


	39. Modeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "User my sweet sister how about Marc trying to help Mari by being a model and Nath comes looking for his BF and sees Marc in a dress inspired by the rooster miraculous/or MightyIlustrator and has a anime nosebleed." - Mpuppy5885

Marc stood in front of the body length mirror Marinette had in her room, slowly swaying from side to side.

Marinette beamed, “Oh, that looks really nice on you!”

“I do have questions as to why someone would commission an outfit based off Mightyllustrator,” Marc winced as he said the name. His inner writer screamed at the terrible word play. 

Marinette shrugged, “I guess they just like your comic a lot.”

Marc smiled at that thought. Someone really liked their comic so much they commissioned a casual dress based off one of their characters. ‘I wonder if we can get Marinette to design some clothes for merch,’ Marc idly mused.

“Hey, Marinette, do you know where Marc is?” A voice drifted through the trap door as a certain redhead popped up. Nathaniel’s sentence died in his throat as he took in Marc’s appearance.

Marc was wearing a knee length A-line dress. The top half had the same design as Mightyllustrator’s chest and the skirt had the same purple to red gradient as Mightyllustrator’s legs. The heeled boots Marc had on also had the gradient. The usual black choker Marc had on was replaced by a purple one.

Nathaniel opened and closed his mouth a couple times, pulling himself up into the room as Marinette snickered. 

“You look nice,” He finally managed to get out after a good ten seconds, “Like. Really nice.” 

“T-Thanks,” Marc stuttered back, blushing and looking away.

Marinette stifled a laugh, “Hey, Nathaniel, give us a minute so Marc can change back. Unless you want to watch?”

Marc shot a small glare at Marinette for the comment. Nathaniel’s face suddenly shifted to the hue of his hair, “I-I’m fine! Thanks!” He disappeared back down the trapdoor, closing it behind him.

In the living room, Nathaniel furiously fanned his face, willing the blush to go away. 

_ Fuck, he did look really good though... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't even know why I keep apologizing for short oneshots it's basically my defining trait at this point
> 
> Dress Reference: https://username8746489.tumblr.com/post/625916410903838720/marc-in-a-evillustrator-themed-dress-for-a


	40. Accidental Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Have them accidentally kiss in the art room in front of the other art students and they try to pretend it did not happen but they cannot deny to themselves they actually enjoyed the kiss, end up kissing for real" - Anonymous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, while writing this: How??? Do people??? Accidentally kiss each other???

Nathaniel and Marc laughed as they conversed, walking into the art room together. 

An innocent piece of paper laid on the floor.

Lost in their conversation, Nathaniel slipped on that piece of paper, falling to the floor. Marc couldn’t catch himself in time and fell along with him.

The two’s lips connected as their bodies crashed into each other. They both squeaked and quickly moved away from each other, stuttering out apologies. 

“I-I’m sorry!”

“It’s fine!”

The rest of the art club, all made eye contact with each other, silently being done with how oblivious the two boys were.

\---

Sitting in his room working on the comic with Nathaniel, Marc bit his lip nervously. He spun around the pen in his hand.

Nathaniel perked up at the motion, “Are you okay?”

  
  
Marc’s eyes locked onto his lips. The lips that kissed his. The lips that were incredibly soft and-

Nathaniel waved a hand in front of Marc’s face, “Marc?”

The writer shook his head rapidly, “I’m fine!”

  
  
“You sure? You look distracted.”

Marc screamed internally, because Nathaniel’s worried face should  _ not _ look that kissable.

“Your lips look really kissable.”

Nathaniel’s face flushed red, “Huh?”

Marc sputtered, “I mean! Um, well-”

“I t-think that too?” Nathaniel offered, albeit a bit shakily. 

“R-Really?”

Nathaniel ducked his head down, brushing his bangs away, “I, uh, liked the kiss.”

“Really?”

The artist nodded.

“W-Would you mind doing it again?” Marc asked, cautiously.

Nathaniel shook his head. The two boys slowly scooted closer to each other. Nathaniel reached up a hand to cup Marc’s face before moving in to connect their lips.

They stayed in that position for a while, until moving away for air.

Nathaniel smiled, “I liked that.”

Marc beamed, “Me too.”

They moved back in, continuing to kiss each other.

And maybe they didn’t get any other work done that day. You would never know.


	41. A Thief in a Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I think it’d be cool if you figured out a way to add a dragon to something, but only if you want to" - OctolingO

Nathaniel’s footsteps echoed throughout the cave as he entered. He looked around. The cave was rumored to be full of a dragon’s treasure. He would be fine. He had no presence. In and out.

Soon, Nathaniel came across piles of gold coins.

Jackpot.

Nathaniel opened the bag at his side, starting to shovel a small part of the pile in. Once satisfied with the amount, he stood up, turning around, prepared to leave. Instead, he got a large claw to his chest, knocking him down to the floor and pinning him there. Nathaniel grunted, staring upwards, making eye contact with a yellow eye.

A very large yellow eye.

Large as in belonged to a dragon large.

Fuck.

Nathaniel heard footsteps walk over. “Caught another thief?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck-

A brunette leaned over him, humming, “Well, then.” He motioned for the dragon to release Nathaniel.

Nathaniel sprang up immediately, throwing the bag away and attempting to run. The mystery man grabbed him immediately, slamming him chest first into the wall, arm twisted behind his back.

A dark chuckle came from behind Nathaniel’s ear, “Trying to run, hm? Jeez, and I was gonna let you go anyways as long as you gave back the money. Truly a shame a cutie like you had to die. I guess Ani  _ would _ like a snack.”

Hold up, was he planning to feed him to the dragon? Hell no.

…

Goodbye, pride.

“Please don’t do that,” Nathaniel pleaded, “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Alright. Stay with me for half a year.”

  
Nathaniel sighed. “Fine.”

The man released him from the wall. He turned around to face the man, “May I know the name of my mysterious captor?”

“Marc Anciel.”

\---

Nathaniel grabbed onto Marc from behind, terrified for his life.

_ Ugh, I’m going to hate living like this. _

Marc hummed happily, guiding Ani to where they were patrolling.

“You’ve been stuck in that cave for a month-”

“Well, gee, whose fault is that?” Nathaniel snapped.

“I could push you off right now.”

“...Shutting up.”

“Anyways, I’m bringing you with me on a patrol!” Marc cheered, flying above the treetops. “We’re just gonna check to see if anyone’s making a disturbance.” A scream echoed from their left. “Like that! Let’s go!”

Ani jerked to the left and Nathaniel tightened his grasp on Marc, praying to whatever God was out there he wasn’t going to fall.

_ This was a mistake. This was  _ all  _ a mistake. I never should’ve entered that cave. _

Ani landed in front of two guys grabbing onto a woman’s hair. With a tap from Marc’s foot, a stream of fire erupted from Ani’s mouth up into the sky. The two men screamed (Nathaniel stifled a laugh at how high pitched the screams got) and quickly ran away. Marc climbed down, walking up to the woman.

Nathaniel observed as he made sure she was okay before climbing back on Ani. They took off into the air again.

The redhead scooted closer to Marc, “Sort of a Robin Hood, aren’t you?”

Marc shrugged, shoulders relaxing, “Maybe so.”

\---

Over the next months, Nathaniel noticed a particular quirk about Marc as he stopped unsavory people in their territory and committed raids. 

“You’ve never killed anyone.”

Marc glanced up from where he was preparing dinner, “Excuse me?”

“You don’t really kill people,” Nathaniel restated his point.

Marc shrugged, “Yeah, I guess so. I never thought anyone should die for their crimes. Second chances and all that.”

“Didn’t you threaten me with death?”

He fidgeted with his hands. “Oh, that? It was a bluff.”

Nathaniel simply tilted his head, “Hm.”

He really did have a lot to learn about this boy.

\---

Marc rested his head on Ani, letting her natural heat warm him for the upcoming night. He closed his eyes before they opened again when Marc felt a weight on his side.

Marc glanced down at the smaller boy curled up into his side.

Nathaniel looked up, a small pout on his face, “This doesn’t mean anything.” He returned to his previous position, breath steadying as he fell asleep.

Marc smiled, speaking although he knew the boy couldn’t hear him, “Sure it doesn’t.”

Nathaniel may have furiously refused anything that happened the night before but Marc took it in stride. 

Surely the boy trusting him enough to sleep on him instead of anywhere else along Ani’s body must mean  _ something _ , right?

\---

“Why did you even want Ani’s gold?” Marc asked one day, hanging back in the cave where they first met. It was nearing the end of the six months.

Nathaniel sighed, hands rising up to hug himself. “There were some bandits who stormed my home village. They sent me out and said if I didn’t raise a lot of money in seven months, then they’d kill everyone.”

  
  
Marc winced, “So that’s why…”

  
  
Nathaniel pulled his knees up to his chin, “The deadline is coming up.”

Marc tapped his chin, “Let’s go take back your village.”

  
  
His partner blinked, “Hm?”

Marc stood up, extending a hand, “Let’s go save your people.”

  
  
Nathaniel smiled, taking it, “Your help is greatly appreciated.”

Marc stuck out a tongue, “Ew, no, don’t be formal.”

His heart fluttered at the laughter that erupted from the other boy.

\---

Nathaniel felt powerful, staring down at the bandits who had terrorized his town for so long, standing atop Ani.

“Leave. Now.”

The bandits turned tail and ran, screaming about their moms or something like that. Nathaniel wasn’t going to waste more brain power on them than he had to.

Ani flew down to the ground, allowing Nathaniel to run over to all the civilians asking if they were okay. Marc stood watch from a distance, before the civilians yanked the two of them into celebrations.

Near the end of the day, Nathaniel and Marc stood together at the edge of town. Marc started walking towards Ani.

“Wait, where’re you going?” 

Marc turned back, smiling sadly, “I don’t think I’d be able to live in a town very long. I live for adventure and all that.”

“Oh, okay,” Nathaniel started walking up to Marc, who seemed very confused.

“Why are you…”

“I’m coming with.”

Marc froze in surprise, “What? But your town?”

Nathaniel grabbed onto Marc’s forearms, pulling him closer, “This past six months have been amazing. I love-”

“My lifestyle?”

Nathaniel sighed, “You’re oblivious.” He reached up and dragged Marc into a kiss. The recipient squeaked but quickly melted into it. They pulled apart. “You got the message?” Marc simply blushed.

They heard a small clapping sound from behind them. The village leader stood there, a smile on his face.

“Go. I’ll tell everyone. We can survive without you.”

  
  
Nathaniel’s shoulders relaxed. He waved goodbye as Marc helped him onto Ani, the two flying away into the night.

And as he nuzzled his head into Marc’s back, he had one thought.

_ Yeah, I’m going to enjoy living like this. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was,,, a lot longer than my usual oneshots,,,, guess more vague prompts give me a larger word count lol


	42. College Roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If it's not too much of a problem, can I request a onshot in which they're college dorm roomates, you know , pinning after the other?" - Xiutik (and thank you for the compliment in your comment :))

Nathaniel tapped his pencil on the homework assignment in front of him.

His mind started wandering away from the subject, his pencil moving to doodle his thoughts. Once he forced himself to focus again, Nathaniel quickly noticed what he was drawing.

Small drawings of Marc (or a vague version of him anyways) were littered all over the page, along with hearts with their initials insides.

Ugh, god, he was getting too influenced by all the romantic media he kept consuming.

Nathaniel bit his lip staring at the pictures, noting that with the level of pressure he used, you’d be able to see them even if he did try to erase them.

...Surely his professor would be cool with him turning these in, right?

He jolted as a fruit snack landed in front of him. Nathaniel turned to where the snack came from.

Marc stood in the doorway, smiling, “Sorry, I know you forget to eat sometimes when you focus on something. I wanted to make sure you remembered to feed yourself.” He waved goodbye, quickly leaving the room.

Nathaniel picked up the fruit snack, grinning uncontrollably.

He was in _ deep _ .

\---

Marc backspaced his latest sentence. He groaned. He hated writing essays.

His mind wandered, eventually dipping into his fantasies about his crush. Marc sighed in content as he imagined dates he could go on with Nathaniel. He zoned back in only to realize he was typing. Marc stopped himself, skimming through the paragraphs he had written.

His face heated up slightly as he read through the highly detailed day dreams. Oh god, now it was moving into NSFW territory-

“Hey, Marc.”

Marc’s hand shot up to slam the laptop closed. He swiveled his head around, staring at his roommate, “H-Hey, Nath!”

Nathaniel smiled at him, “What’re you writing?”

“O-Oh, um, essay for english class.”

The artist stuck out his tongue in disgust, “Ugh, I understand your frustration on your laptop then. Essays suck.”

Marc laughed nervously, thankful Nathaniel hadn’t sneaked a peek to what was on the document.

Nathaniel took a sip from a water bottle in his hand. He stared at Marc for a couple seconds.

_ Oh god, oh fuck- _

Nathaniel extended the water bottle towards Marc, “Want some? I know you tend to forget to hydrate yourself while working and I _ refuse _ to let you not take care of yourself after you looked after me.” He blinked, “Wait, I drank out of this already. Let me get another-”

“Oh no, it’s fine!” Marc reassured. He took the bottle out of Nathaniel’s hand and took a sip. Nathaniel made a two fingered salute before walking away.

Marc screamed internally at the indirect kiss.

Alone once again, both boys sighed in unison. After all, it’s not like their crush was requited, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, last chapter: Maybe more vague oneshots give me bigger word counts because I have more to experiment on?  
> Me, this chapter: fuck-


	43. Heroes of Paris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Basically an AU where Mightillustrator is the sole hero of Paris until one night where he and other hero Reverser (who he's never met before) end up stopping the same minor crime, like a theft or whatever. After some quips, they realize they hit it off a lot more than they thought they would, so they agree to meet up for lunch the next day in their civilian forms, who've also never met before. And from there it lowkey becomes a date." - caelestislux

Mightyllustrator flew around the city blanketed in the dark using the wings drawn on his back. Man, his power was so convenient. Although, it was a bit lonely being the only hero in Paris. He paused upon seeing a man trying to yank a purse off a woman’s arm, probably using the cover of night to try and get away with it. 

Moving closer, he prepared to draw something to separate the two. His drawing process was interrupted by a shout.

“Reversion!” A paper airplane shot forward, sinking itself into the man’s body. The mugger slowly relaxed, before turning around and walking towards the police station with a dopey smile on his face. Mightyllustrator watched from afar as a figure clad in black and white floated down on a glider towards the woman, asking if she was okay. Once he got affirmation she was fine, he allowed her to go.

Mightyllustrator landed behind the hero(?). “Nice work.”

The person jumped, flipping around, “O-Oh, it’s you!”

He simply looked them up and down. Mightyllustrator nodded, absentmindedly, noting happily how the costume looked good.

“May I ask who you are?”

“Reverser,” Reverser introduced himself. “Um, powers include me being able to reverse an aspect of someone’s personality or physical ability.”   
  


Mightyllustrator stifled a laugh, “What’s with the info dump?”

“Oh, uh, I thought you’d be suspicious of a random person who just showed up with powers.”

“I’m a part of Gen Z. I legitimately don’t care.”

Reverser cracked a smile, “That’s fair. We do be running towards death though, huh?”

_ We? He must be around my age too. _

The two talked some more, exchanging quips and laughs.

“Hey, we should meet up tomorrow,” Mightyllustrator suggested in between bits of laughter. Reverser paused.

“On a patrol?”   


“Nah, as civilians.”

“Isn’t that, like, the worst thing to do in any superhero media ever?”

Mightyllustrator narrowed his eyes, “Do you know how many stupid plots could’ve been avoided if the heroes knew who each other were?”

Reverser smiled, “You’re right.”

The artist drew a piece of paper into existence before writing down his number and name onto the slip before handing it to Reverser. He motioned a phone near his ear before flying away using the wings still attached to his back.

**Unknown Number:** Is this Mightyllustrator?

**Me** : lol you can call me Nathaniel when we’re not being heroes

**Reverser** : oh okay

**Reverser** : You can call me Marc then

**Me:** Nice.

**Me:** Wanna meet up tomorrow if you’re free?

**Marc:** Sure!

Nathaniel curled further into a ball as he chatted with Marc for the rest of the night. Maybe that wasn’t the best decision as they were meeting in the morning, but he was having so much fun talking to him. 

\---

Nathaniel sipped on his coffee, scrolling through Tumblr on his phone. He sat in a corner booth in a cafe he frequented.

**Marc** : I just entered

**Me** : I’m the redhead drinking coffee on his phone near the corner

After sending the message, Nathaniel looked up towards the entrance. His eyes met striking green ones. The (pretty) brunette standing at the doorway blinked, before walking over. He didn’t think he’d ever seen him before.

“Marc?”

“Nathaniel?”

The questions came out at the same time. Both boys stayed silent for a moment before beginning to laugh together, much like the previous night. Nathaniel gestured to the open seat, “You look nice.”

Marc beamed, “Thanks! You do too!”

They spent the next hour talking about shared interests (and maybe hero advice). A waitress walked up to them with a milkshake accompanied by two straws and placed it down on the table, “Couples get the milkshake for free!” She scurried away as the boys’ faces quickly turned red.

“Did-Did she think we were on a date?” Marc stuttered out. 

Nathaniel blushed, messing with his bangs, “Um, it could be if you wanted it to?”

“Did you ask me out while we were ‘on’ this supposed date?”

“...Maybe.”

Marc smiled, eyes crinkling up, “Sure. Let’s make this a date.”

Nathaniel smiled back.

Now he had a partner for both hero work and romance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn UN, back at it again with the short one shots


	44. Comic on Your Arms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If it's not too much trouble dear friendorooni, may I have a Soulmate AU where whatever goes into your skin is shown on your soulmates, Nathan draws pictures and Marc will write something to accompany it like a story and vice versa, Marc will write some dialogue and Nathan will draw a picture for it. These bois are SOFT and WHOLESOME and they snuggle up in weighted blanket burritos eating dino nuggies and choccy milk on their days off while watching Studio Ghibli and other animated movies (their personal favorite is Song of the Sea) Also, Nathan is Autistic and has an obsession with soft things so basically they have enough Pillows to make forts and it's just pure unyielding fluff and sugar and wholesomeness" - Gingerbreadgirl1228

Nathaniel glanced up to make sure the teacher wasn’t staring at him before drawing a small image of a knight and princess on his wrist.

_ ‘Can you make a story with this?’ _

Soon, a short story appeared underneath the picture, detailing a story where a knight goes to save a princess but ends up being the one who needs to be rescued. Nathaniel smiled happily. His soulmate always came up with the coolest stories to accompany his doodles. 

_ ‘I love your drawing!’ _

_ ‘Nah, your story was def better’ _

_ ‘Ssh, don’t undermine your ability’ _

Against his better judgement, he ignored the lecture in favor of conversing with his soulmate. He had begun a habit of bringing hand sanitizer and a small pack of tissues to wipe away the conversations on his arm so they could have even more.

Once the bell finally rang, Alix walked over with a smirk, “How many tissues did you waste this period?”

Nathaniel blushed, rolling his eyes, “Shut up.”

\---

Nathaniel walked into the park. Marinette had told him about a fan of his art that wrote a story for it. 

Imagine someone liking his art that much. Wild.

Nathaniel fiddled with his sketchbook, watching as a black stain slowly spread out from the palm of his right hand.

Oh, his soulmate must’ve broken a pen. Same thing had happened to him a bunch of times.

His eyes landed on a figure wearing a red hoodie at the fountain.

“Hey, you’re that writer Marinette told me I was meeting, right?” 

The person turned around, waving their right hand, stained black.

Wait, what?

“Oh, sorry, I was messing with a pen and it just broke and ink got everywhere. My poor soulmate.”

Nathaniel didn’t respond besides shakily holding up his own right hand, a splitting image to the other’s.

They simply stared at each other before exclaiming the same thing at the same time.

“You’re my soulmate?!”

\---

Needless to say, the two clicked, as many soulmate pairs did. (Well, I guess that’s why they were called soulmates.)

They’d tried being friends for about two months before moving on to dating. The two had been on tons of dates. All of them were amazing.

Nathaniel went through the same routine as usual, writing his boyfriend a message.

_ ‘When I come to sleep over tonight, can we make a blanket fort?’ _

_ ‘Aren’t you in science?’ _

_ ‘Yeah lol’ _

_ ‘You’re failing pay attention’ _

_ ‘Nah’ _

_ ‘:/’ _

_ ‘Fine :p’ _

He rolled his eyes fondly, looking up. 

\---

Marc tossed another throw pillow at Nathaniel, “Is that good?”   
  


The two were in Marc’s living room. They had constructed a blanket fort, filled with all the soft things of Nathaniel’s dreams, including but not limited to plushies, a hoodie from Marc’s closet Nathaniel definitely didn’t steal, and throw pillows. The artist was currently holding the throw pillow thrown at him (hah) and cuddling it in his arms. Marc crawled in, with a laptop. 

He opened it up and started playing Song of the Sea. Nathaniel hummed happily, leaning into Marc’s side, curling up into a ball. He reached towards a tray they had put out beforehand filled with chicken nuggets and glasses of chocolate milk.

Marc placed a kiss on Nathaniel’s forehead, arm pulling him closer. 

Yeah. Life was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Relatively short but that's just my brand at this point lol


	45. Mario AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Super Mario Bros. (Mareach/Mario x Peach/w/e it's called) AU! As of which of the two is Mario and which is Peach... your call! Maybe put one of the two's parent(s) in the role of Bowser (not romantically like Bowser likes Peach, of course; I don't support incest).  
> If Marc is Mario, I think you could make Marinette Luigi! On the other side, I'd advise Alix as Luigi!  
> I hope you not only do this prompt but have fun when/if you do it!" - BeeTeeDubya14 (and yes I did have fun writing this :))

Marc smiled at his boyfriend. They were taking a stroll near the outskirts of Nathaniel’s kingdom.

“Don’t you ever find it weird how you basically own this entire place?”

Nathaniel shrugged, "I'm the only member of the royal family still alive. It's kinda my duty." They both jumped at the sound of explosions. Nathaniel's head spun towards the direction of his castle. An airship floated near it. Smoke was coming out of the castle.

Both boys gasped. Marc squinted, looking at the airship, "Wait, I only see Lila. Doesn't Chloe usually work with her on these schemes?" His question was answered by a scream.

Marc turned to see a struggling Nathaniel being yanked up by a hook towards an airship. Chloe's smirking face mocked him from above. 

"Don't worry! I'll let you come to our wedding!" Chloe cackled, "It'll be the moment I become the true ruler of all the lands!"

Chloe was the ruler of the nearby kingdom (named the Abeille Kingdom. Creative.) Lila was her advisor. Chloe seemed to have it in her head that she deserved every single kingdom in the world and sought out to take control of them all. It’s a wonder why any of her subjects stayed with her. Actually, Marc was pretty sure Lila was planning to backstab her once their plan ‘finally’ succeeded.

Marc didn't pay attention to that. She made that speech every other week. What he did pay attention to were Nathaniel's panicked shrieks of his name, slowly getting further away.

They happened often but the panic in those screams never died down.

Marinette ran up to him, tripping near the end, before flipping herself right back up again, "Chloe and Lila again?" 

Marc sputtered, “Yes, it’s them again!” He threw his hands up into the air in frustration, “Who else would it be?!”

Marinette grimaced. “Back to trying to get your boyfriend back.”

“I am so tempted to throw them into lava and let them die!”

“Woah there, calm down and let’s maybe not murder two people.”

\---

Marc kicked Lila one final time in the face in the throne room of the Abeille Kingdom castle before turning once more to Marinette, the four of them surrounded by lava waterfalls (Lava falls?). Marc wasn’t exactly sure what witchcraft Chloe and Lila did to make them invincible to extreme heat, but he didn’t like it.

“Can I go on without you?”

Marinette smiled innocently, cracking her knuckles, “Sure! I’ll beat them up some more for you!”

Marc grinned. His cousin was the best.

He walked forward towards the door in the back, flinging it open and stepping into the lava filled room. A platform stood in the middle of the lava, a cage swinging above it. Nathaniel sat there, curled up into a ball looking bored out of his life.

He perked up once the door opened, standing up, "Marc!"

Marc strolled over until he was standing underneath the cage. He held his arms out as the bottom of the cafe fizzled out (Probably some magic Chloe put there). Nathaniel dropped directly into his lover's embrace, the taller immediately starting to swing him around.

They stopped, giggling with each other. Marc put Nathaniel down with a smile, "You okay?"

Nathaniel nodded, tip toeing up to kiss Marc on the cheek, "My hero." The redhead stifled a laugh as he watched Marc's face turn red.

Marc patted his cheeks a couple times to return them to their proper shade, stuttering out a sentence, "Hey, let's go home."

The two walked back into the throne room, meeting up with Marinette. They all walked out together leaving Chloe and Lila's slumped, groaning bodies.

"You know, I'm surprised you didn't do more to them."

"Oh I would but the bloodstains would show up on my clothes and public support and all. Maybe I should design myself some red adventure clothes."

"Yeah, no, I think you're good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requests won't be open for a while since school is starting again :(((


	46. Wanna Find Out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER ONLY EXISTS SO PEOPLE KNOW REQUESTS ARE OPEN AGAIN FOR WINTER BREAK RFUJKSGH

Marc tapped his pencil on his journal, sitting on Nathaniel's bed as they worked on their comic together, "Are open mouthed kisses supposed to feel good? They just sound... strange to me."

"I don't know," Nathaniel shrugged, before cradling Marc's cheek and turning it towards himself, "Wanna find out?"

\---

"And that's how we got together!" Nathaniel finished recalling his tale to an astounded art club and an embarrassed Marc.


	47. A Latke Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Marc and Nath are engaged. Marc learns how to make Latkes for Nathaniel for Hannukah from Nathaniel's mother." - kopycat_101

Marc stepped into the kitchen. Leah, Nathaniel’s mom, perked up upon noticing him, “Come in, come in!”

“Um, thank you for having me over,” Marc murmured, “Are you sure I’m not bothering you? I could always learn online.”

“Nonsense!” Leah quickly assured him, “I’d love to teach my son-in-law how to make latkes for my boy.” 

Marc blushed, “We’re not married yet.”

“But you will be!” She singsonged, dragging him over to the multitudes of ingredients on the counter, “Okay, so first, you’re going to…”

\---

Nathaniel stared shocked as Marc placed down a plate of latkes on the table. The writer beamed, “For Hanukkah! I hope they’re good.”

The redhead turned to his fiancé, “Aw, Marc!” He shot up from where he was sitting, quickly enveloping the other in a hug. Marc stumbled back a bit from the sudden impact but quickly regained balance, returning the hug. Nathaniel looked up at him, smiling, “That’s really nice of you.”

“Of course! Being Jewish is important to you and I’m gonna do all I can to help support that,” Marc cheered.

Nathaniel grinned, releasing Marc, “You’re amazing babe.” His lover blushed at the compliment. He sat down again, tugging Marc down to sit next to him. “Let’s dig in. How difficult was it making these?”

As Nathaniel dug into the dish, Marc was having vivid flashbacks to how many times hot droplets of oil had jumped out of the pan and onto his skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot my short oneshot curse aaaAAAA  
> sorry-


	48. A Beautiful Butterfly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Would you be opening to writing something with Good!Moth!Marc or Good!Moth!Nathaniel making a tenshi/champion/whatever the superhero form is called of the other against Villain!Wielder!Marc or Nath's Dad? You have artistic license on which Miraculous the "father" uses." - BeeTeeDubya14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU where Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Hawkmoth were never a thing

Nathaniel was walking down the street when he suddenly heard a voice cry out.

“Look out!”

Nathaniel looked around, confused, before a figure jumped down next to him, scooping him up in a bridal carry before jumping away again. He yelped, looking past the person who grabbed him, just as a giant bolt of lightning struck down where he was previously standing. The artist squeaked, holding on tighter to his savior.

The hero(?) landed on a roof and placed Nathaniel down. “Are you okay?” 

Nathaniel nodded, “Thank you, er…”

“Monarch,” The boy bowed, “And if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like you to help me one more time.” Monarch held out his hand. A few seconds later, a white butterfly fluttered and landed on it. The butterfly stayed there for a moment, seemingly gathering power, before flying over to the pen carefully nestled behind Nathaniel’s ear.

Nathaniel gasped as a connection was suddenly forged between him and Monarch.

“I can give you the powers to bring your creations to life.”

“Like… the character I made?”

“Mhm. But I’m not calling you Super Nath.”

“...That’s fair.”

“So you accept?”

“I do.” With that affirmation, Nathaniel was suddenly enveloped in a white light. Once it was gone, Nathaniel twisted around, looking at himself. He looked exactly like his OC. It was kind of jarring. As practice, Nathaniel drew a pencil on his tablet. It appeared midair, dropping to the ground. He stared wide-eyed at it, “Cool.”

Monarch giggled, “Yep! Now about the guy who tried to kill you, that’s the enemy.” He glared at the ground mumbling something. Nathaniel only heard ‘dad’.

He was assuming there was some form of father-son relationship between Monarch and Lightning Bitch. 

“Shall we go?”

Monarch looked at him and smiled, “Yes. Pleasure working with you, Le Dessinateur.”

...Fuck, that was such a better name than the one he came up with.

\---

After a lengthy fight with Lightning Bitch (Well, technically his powers included air and water as well, but Lightning Bitch had a certain ring to it.), Monarch and he were able to take back the dragon miraculous (That’s what those magical accessories were called if Nathaniel remembered correctly) from him. 

Monarch turned to him as the police arrested his father in the background, smiling brightly, “Thank you for your help!”

Nathaniel beamed back, “Of course!”

Monarch held out his hand. Nathaniel physically jumped as he felt the connection between them break. The white butterfly from before fluttered out of his pen and back into the hero’s hand.

Reporters started surrounding the artist. Monarch smiled, turning away.

“Hey, Monarch!” Nathaniel pushed through the crowd, calling out before the hero could jump away. As Monarch turned back, Nathaniel fiddled with his hands, “Will I see you again?”

Monarch smiled, “A second meeting? Of course. I promise.”

The artist watched as he leapt far away from him.

\---

A boy with black hair ran up to Nathaniel the next day at school, “Hey!”

Nathaniel turned around, not recognizing him, “Hey?”

“My name’s Marc,” Marc held out his hand. Nathaniel accepted it, turning it into a handshake. Although, he was still confused. Why was this boy talking to him?

  
  
Marc smiled, as if he read Nathaniel’s mind, reaching up and yanking one side of his hoodie to the side. Nathaniel’s breath hitched in his throat as his eyes landed on the pin on his shirt. He glanced up at Marc.

The boy smiled, “I did promise a second meeting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i skipped the fight scene bc honestly ujhedgsk didn't want to write it
> 
> Marc's hero name by Crypt over on discord thanksss

**Author's Note:**

> Friendly reminder to wash your hands and stay safe with the current events going on right now!
> 
> Requests: Closed
> 
> A friendly reminder that requests go in the FIRST chapter and not the latest one! Thank you!


End file.
